The Jilamito Hydroelectric Project in Honduras

Key words: School Of The Americas Watch (SOAW); Broad Movement for Dignity and Justice (MADJ, Honduras); Jilamito Hydroelectric Project; community opposition; US Development Finance Corporation; IDB Invest; privatisation of natural resources.

The SOAW is the School Of The Americas Watch, a US  advocacy organisation founded in 1990 to protest the training of mainly Latin American military officers by the United States Department of Defence at the School of the Americas (SOA). Since 2000 the SOA has been called the Western Hemispheric Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC). Prior to that time the School Of The Americas had become popularly renamed the School Of Assassins. Most of the Latin American military human rights abusers spent some of their training time in the SOA. In April 2021, along with the Witness for Peace Solidarity Collective, the Broad Movement for Dignity and Justice in Honduras (MADJ) and 60 other US and Honduran organisations, the SOAW sent a letter to US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urging the US to oppose financing for the Jilamito Hydroelectric Project in Honduras.

For years, members of local communities, organised in MADJ, have maintained an encampment defending the Jilamito River from this project. They have faced death threats, violence, and criminalisation. The local mayor and other local leaders face criminal charges for defending the river. One month after they were indicted, Carlos Hernandez, the mayor’s defence lawyer, was murdered.

The US Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has publicly stated it will finance the project as part of investing $1 billion in the private sector in Honduras. MADJ has repeatedly denounced threats, human rights violations, and allegations of corruption related to the project. Despite this, IDB Invest, the private sector arm of the Inter-American Development Bank, has approved a $20.25 million loan for the project. The US is by far the largest shareholder of the IDB.

The letter to the US Treasury Secretary noted that there are numerous parallels between the Jilamito Hydroelectric Project and the Agua Zarca Hydroelectric Project, for opposing which Berta Cáceres was murdered. In addition to the violence, criminalisation, and threats faced by project opponents, both projects were approved in the period after the 2009 military coup in Honduras when natural resources were rapidly handed over to Honduras’ elite. MADJ has denounced corruption and irregularities related to the concession process, as well as environmental damages, but unsurprisingly the Honduran judicial system has yet to resolve their complaints.

The US justifies support for projects such as the Jilamito Hydroelectric Project – via so-called ‘development’ banks – by claiming such ‘development’ will prevent migration. On the contrary, the violent, militarised imposition of the US neoliberal economic model – which includes the privatisation of natural resources – is itself a root cause of migration from Central America. This is not ‘development’ – it serves to privatise and concentrate natural resources in the hands of the elite – and is frequently imposed through US-backed militarisation and repression of the communities and organisations who defend their water, land, and rights.

SOAW:  https://soaw.org

A few energy developments in Central America

Compiled by Martin Mowforth for The Violence of Development website.

Photovoltaic panels in Panama

Panama is planning the construction of an electrical energy production plant using photovoltaic panels.

In April, Italy’s Enel SpA company began construction of a 31 MW solar park in Panama’s Chiriqui province. The Madre Vieja photovoltaic (PV) plant is expected to begin feeding power into the local grid in December this year (2021) and commercial operations are planned to start in February 2022.

Madre Vieja will consist of over 68,000 solar panels and should be able to generate nearly 50 Gigawatt hours of electricity per year. That is calculated as enough to offset over 12,500 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.

 

Solar energy in Guatemala

A solar energy generation park is to be built in the department of Jutiapa, Guatemala. The construction phase is expected to last almost two years and the plant will have approximately 274,000 panels and will be located on a 127 hectare plot of land.

The energy generated in the project will be transmitted through the electrical transmission system to the Jalpatagua sub-station whence it will be delivered to the National Interconnected System (SNI).

 

Promotion of geothermal energy in Central America

The German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) commissioned a programme to promote geothermal development in Central America between 2016 and 2020. The Agency in charge of the programme in the region was the Central American Integration System (SICA).

The programme involved particularly the improvement of the perception of geothermal energy as a stable and viable energy source, the clarification of the legal regulatory framework for the development of geothermal energy and support for companies aiming to develop geothermal energy potential.

 

First wind farm in El Salvador

El Salvador’s first wind farm has been commissioned. It is expected to produce 54 MW of electrical energy and is located in the municipality of Metapán in the Santa Ana department.

It will significantly add to El Salvador’s capacity for renewable energy generation and prevent the emission of approximately 200,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. Additionally, it will also help to reduce the country’s dependence on imported fossil fuels and diversify the national energy power grid.


Sources:

  • Central America Data, 18 November 2021, various reported items.
  • renews,14 July 2021, ‘El Salvador commissions first wind farm’, https://renews.biz/70976/el-salvadors-first-wind-farm-commissioned/
  • Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) website (undated), ‘Promotion of geothermal energy in Central America’, https://www.giz.de/en/worldwide/78071.html

 

 

 

BID retira el financiamiento a dos hidroeléctricas en Guatemala

Por EFE .  7 de Junio de 2022 – 10:30 HS   El Economista

Palabras claves: Guatemala; Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID); hidroeléctricas; comunidades Indígenas; consulta.

Varias organizaciones no gubernamentales guatemaltecas expresaron su satisfacción por el retiro del financiamiento del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID) a dos hidroeléctricas ubicadas en el noroeste del territorio.

Las hidroeléctricas funcionaban en el departamento (provincia) de Huehuetenango, situadas unos 300 kilómetros al noroeste de Ciudad de Guatemala, y perdieron el financiamiento del BID desde 2021, según confirmaron las organizaciones en rueda de prensa.

La decisión de retirar el financiamiento por parte del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo obedece a un informe interno de la misma entidad divulgado en septiembre de 2021, tras investigar la manera en que ambas hidroeléctricas se instalaron en Huehuetenango.

Las hidroeléctricas son San Mateo y San Andrés, ambas pertenecientes a la compañía privada Energía y Renovación S. A. y ubicadas en el municipio de San Mateo Ixtatán ,en Huehuetenango, desde su construcción en 2013.

La colombiana Rosa Peña, representante de la Asociación Interamericana para la Defensa del Ambiente (Aida), dijo durante la rueda de prensa este lunes, en el centro de la Ciudad de Guatemala, que la decisión producida por el informe interno “es un reconocimiento” para las denuncias de las comunidades aledañas sobre las hidroeléctricas.

Peña detalló que la entidad que representa, junto a las organizaciones Plataforma Internacional contra la Impunidad y Gobierno Ancestral Plurinacional de las Naciones Originarias Akateko, Chuj, Popti’, Q’anjob’al, han “venido acompañando” a las comunidades indígenas aledañas en la denuncia contra las hidroeléctricas, planteada oficialmente ante el BID en 2018.

De acuerdo con Peña, el informe interno de la misma entidad y sus recomendaciones “deben servir al grupo BID para aprender lecciones y contribuir a la no repetición de los errores del pasado y que dieron origen a la queja”.

El financiamiento a las hidroeléctricas por parte del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo fue de 13 millones de dólares y será cancelado debido a que el informe interno señala que se violaron normas de la misma entidad económica regional.

“Lo que nosotros estamos resaltando en este caso es que es el mismo banco el que está reconociendo que ha incurrido en faltas a sus propias normas”, añadió Rigoberto Juárez durante la rueda de prensa, en representación del Gobierno Ancestral Plurinacional de las Naciones Originarias Akateko, Chuj, Popti’, Q’anjob’al.

Las denuncias de las comunidades indígenas aledañas a las hidroeléctricas empezaron desde antes de la instalación de las hidroeléctricas, por falta de consulta popular, y continuaron por el abuso en los recursos naturales, especialmente en dos ríos locales, lo que a su vez se tradujo en violencia contra los pobladores, según medios locales.

IDB withdraws financing for two HEP schemes in Guatemala

In June this year, El Economista reported on the withdrawal by the Inter-American Development Bank of funding for two Guatemalan hydroelectric projects (HEPs).

Translated and summarised by Martin Mowforth

Key words: Guatemala; Inter-American Development Bank IDB); hydroelectric projects (HEPs); Indigenous communities; consultation.

 

A number of Guatemalan non-governmental organisations (NGOs) expressed their pleasure that two HEP projects in the north-west of the country had lost their funding from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

The two schemes are the San Mateo and San Andrés HEP projects and both are run by the same private company, Energía y Renovación S.A.. They are both located in the municipality of San Mateo Ixtatán and both were begun in 2013.

The IDB’s decision to withdraw funding followed a Bank internal report produced in September 2021 and based on an investigation of the way in which the two schemes were being installed in the department of Huehuetenango.

In a press conference in Guatemala City, Rosa Peña, a representative of the Inter-American Association for the Defence of the Environment (AIDA), stated that the decision by the IDB “is a recognition of the denunciations made by communities surrounding the projects.” Peña explained that AIDA and other Indigenous and environmental organisations had accompanied the communities and had officially submitted the denunciations to the IDB in 2018.

According to Peña, the IDB’s internal report and its recommendations “must prompt the IDB to learn lessons and must not repeat the same errors from the past.” The IDB’s funding of the projects amounted to 13 million US dollars and will be cancelled due to the internal report’s indication that the two projects violate the bank’s economic norms.

“What we are seeing in this case is that it is the same bank that is recognising that it has broken its own norms”, added Rigoberto Juárez – Juárez represents the Plurinational Ancestral Government of the Akateko, Chuj, Popti’ and Q’anjob’al Original Peoples – during the press conference.

The denunciations of the Indigenous communities neighbouring the HEP schemes began before the installations were producing due to the lack of a consultation of the people, and the abuse of natural resources continued, especially in the location of these two rivers, and the abuse was translated into violence against the local people, according to the local media.

A second crack discovered in Costa Rican HEP dam

By Martin Mowforth

In September the Costa Rica Electricity Institution (ICE) announced that a second crack had been discovered in the Reventazón Hydroelectric Dam. ICE officials reported that the crack has appeared in one of the tunnels that links with the reservoir behind the dam and that it could cause a total collapse of the tunnel which would affect the dam’s functioning during repairs.

The first crack was discovered on the reservoir side a few months before the $1.5 billion project was opened in 2016. The dam is an important source of Costa Rica’s energy supply and is often touted as ‘clean’ energy despite the human displacements and ecosystem alterations that such schemes usually cause. Although the ICE boasts about the Reventazón Dam’s productive capacity, it has never lived up to the energy generation levels that were originally projected for it.

The state-owned Costa Rica Electricity Institute (ICE) that operates the facility has been told that the situation requires “urgent and indispensable” action. In December this year [2022] it was reported that international experts were being sought to advise on the issue with the Reventazón dam.

The weekly online paper Tico Times reported that the ICE blames the problems on complex geological problems but also that ICE engineers had acknowledged that they did not understand the nature of these geological problems. When the daily Costa Rican newspaper La Nación asked if the current situation constituted a state of emergency, ICE responded that the situation was “unforeseeable”.

G20 help for Honduras?: Solar power project to combat climate change in Honduras

A comment

At the 2022 G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia, President Biden, Indonesian President Widodo, and European Commission President Von der Leyen co-hosted a group of G20 leaders to demonstrate their shared commitment to deepen engagement under the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) to accelerate investment in quality infrastructure in low- and middle-income countries around the world and strengthen the global economy.

In line with the G20 theme for 2022, “Recover Together, Recover Stronger,” PGII investments aim to create lasting positive impacts for partner countries, strengthen the resilience of communities, and support inclusive, sustainable development, as well as benefit partners’ economic security and global supply chains. 

Sounds good, doesn’t it? Read on. 

A Solar Development project in Honduras will be funded as a part of the PGII.The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) is providing a $52 million loan guarantee to J.P. Morgan, who is financing Banco Atlantida’s purchase of $31 million of U.S. equipment for a 53.4 MW solar power project in Honduras. The transaction is the largest-ever solar project EXIM has financed in the Americas. The project will utilize American-made equipment from First Solar Nextracker, Shoals Technologies Group, and Cambria County Association for the Blind and Handicapped.

Apart from the obvious point that the major beneficiaries of the project are US companies rather than Honduran companies – although there will be some small-scale spin-off benefits to local people and companies – this project finance represents another example of mixing public and private finances to promote neoliberal development, in this case in the name of climate change.

Despite the fact that this project promotes solar power, it also promotes a form of economic development that has, arguably, been the single most basic cause of climate change. Using neoliberal financing measures to combat climate change is already a failed strategy and will perpetuate the widening of differences between the rich and the poor of the world.

Offshore oil operations in Belize?

Martin Mowforth

December 2022

Oceana is an international organisation founded in 2001. It is the largest international advocacy organisation focussed solely on ocean conservation. It campaigns against offshore oil operations, plastics pollution of the oceans, and the use of gillnets and bottom trawling by the fishing industry.

The organisation has an office in Belize and in 2015 it was instrumental in persuading the government of Belize to provide protections for its barrier reef and World Heritage Sites from oil exploration. This was reaffirmed in 2017 when the government passed the Petroleum Operations (Offshore Zone Moratorium) Bill, placing an indefinite moratorium on offshore oil in the country’s marine territory. The Bill is often referred to as a Blue Bond Agreement.

The moratorium is still valid but can be reversed at any time as the language used in the Bill does not explicitly rule out oil exploration. In November [2022] Oceana called a press conference to alert the country to the wish of Prime Minister John Briceño to allow seismic testing which is generally seen as the first step in the process towards offshore oil exploration.

At the press conference, Janelle Chanona, Vice President of Oceana Belize, explained that in a meeting two months earlier Briceño had stated that he wished to proceed with seismic testing. Despite the global praise that Belize had gained for its signing up to the Blue Bond Agreement and its fight against climate change, Chanona pointed out the hypocrisy of now wanting to approve seismic testing.

“We can’t fight climate change and then turn around in the other breath and say but we want to contribute to it by engaging in offshore oil development,” said Chanona. Because of the alarm created by this current governmental position Oceana announced at its press conference that it was launching a petition in order to trigger a referendum on the issue. A petition of ten per cent of the population is required to trigger a referendum in Belize.

The government responded to the Oceana press conference with a statement that included the following: “the government of Belize hereby clarifies that it has not entered into any agreements for seismic studies nor for oil exploration in offshore areas.” In early December Prime Minister Briceño wrote to Oceana Belize reiterating the government’s position and support for the prohibition of offshore oil operations. He also declared the Oceana inspired referendum to be unnecessary and requested that the organisation re-engage with the government to tackle the “many marine conservation challenges that require collaborative action now.”

New solar power deal in Belize

A Government of Belize (GOB) press release on 4 August this year [2023] announced that the GOB had signed a US$77 million loan agreement with the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) for the construction of a 60 Mw solar energy plant in Belize.

The agreement will facilitate the construction of the plant along with investment in battery energy storage and the supply and installation of solar panels to reduce carbon emissions from the energy sector of Belize.

Construction of the facility is also expected to result in many benefits іnсludіng lоwеr роwеr соѕts, іnсrеаѕеd ассеѕѕ tо еlесtrісіtу аnd the creation of many јоbѕ.

“Тhе Gоvеrnmеnt оf Веlіzе tоdау mаdе rеnеwаblе еnеrgу hіѕtоrу wіth thе ѕіgnіng оf а UЅ$77 mіllіоn lоаn аgrееmеnt wіth thе Ѕаudі Fund fоr Dеvеlорmеnt, fоr thе соnѕtruсtіоn оf а 60 mеgаwаtt Ѕоlаr Еnеrgу Рlаnt іn Веlіzе,” а gоvеrnmеnt rеlеаѕе ѕtаtеd.

The release also noted that the 60Мw ѕоlаr еnеrgу рlаnt wіll ѕtаbіlіzе thе nаtіоn’ѕ еnеrgу ѕuррlу, rеduсе dереndеnсе оn fоѕѕіl fuеlѕ, аnd рrоmоtе а сlеаnеr аnd mоrе ѕuѕtаіnаblе еnеrgу ѕоurсе whіlе рrоvіdіng соѕt ѕаvіngѕ, еnvіrоnmеntаl ѕuѕtаіnаbіlіtу, јоb сrеаtіоn, аnd іmрrоvеd ассеѕѕ tо еlесtrісіtу tо rurаl соmmunіtіеѕ.

The Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) is a Saudi Arabian government agency that provides development assistance to developing countries. It provides soft loans and grants to finance development projects that enhance economic and social growth and it aims particularly to improve the living standards of disadvantaged communities and to support countries most in need.

The SFD also signed an agreement with the GOB to provide a US$45 million loan for the construction of a tertiary hospital in Belmopan, the country’s capital city.

These agreements and the SFD’s stated aims (as given above) rather contradict the widely accepted public image of Saudi Arabia as an extremely repressive autocracy. The Violence of Development editors make no pronouncements regarding these contradictions. The information is offered here simply because it covers an issue that has the potential to affect the development of Belize.


Sources:

 

China invests in solar power in Nicaragua

In December 2023, the governments of China and Nicaragua signed an agreement for the China Communications Construction Company Ltd (CCCC) to provide the finance (almost 66 million euros) for the design and construction of a photovoltaic plant in the department of Matagalpa in the north of Nicaragua.

A particular purpose of the project would be to enable ENACAL (the Nicaraguan government water and sewage company) to meet the demand for water more securely and consistently as well as bolstering the country’s energy supply system. ENACAL is expected to build 4 more major wells for water supply in the department of Matagalpa and to improve the management of water supply for all 48 wells there, spreading access to water more widely in the process.

The project became more concrete in April this year (2024) when President Ortega authorised the Nicaraguan Ministry of Energy and Mines to sign a contract with the CCCC to build the solar photovoltaic power plant with a capacity of 67.35 megawatts in Ciudad Dario in Matagalpa department.

In 2021, Nicaragua broke off its relationship with Taiwan and established a relationship with China in its place. In December 2023, the new relationship was raised to a level of a ‘strategic partnership’. Then in January 2024, Nicaragua and China signed a Free Trade Agreement, and the Chinese government will also cooperate with Nicaragua on issues of security and technology. Chinese companies are also expected to participate in the construction of a range of infrastructure projects.

Other solar power projects in Nicaragua include the Dos Volcanes solar plant on the island of Ometepe which is currently nearing completion and generating 1.5 megawatts. In March this year in the municipality of Malpaisillo in the Department of León, the Jaguar Solar Power Plant came into operation with a capacity of 16 megawatts.

The Nicaraguan Minister of Energy and Mines, Salvador Mansell, has predicted that the country will be above 200 solar megawatts by next year.


Sources:

  • Informe Pastrán, 5 Diciembre 2023, ‘Matagalpa Tendrá Planta Fotovoltaica de Energía Limpia’.
  • Nan McCurdy, 25 April 2024, ‘Chinese Company to Build Solar Plant in Ciudad Darío’, NicaNotes Briefs, Alliance for Global Justice.
  • Tico Times, 30 April 2024, ‘China to Build Massive Solar Power Plant in Nicaragua’, San José, Costa Rica.
  • Nan McCurdy, 9 May 2024, ‘Great Financial Investment in Solar Energy’, Nicanotes Briefs, Alliance for Global Justice.
  • Nan McCurdy, 16 May 2024, ‘New Solar Power Plant to be Added to the Grid’, Nicanotes, Briefs, Alliance for Global Justice.

Firewood, tortillas and floods

???????????????????????????????It may sometimes be difficult to see the link between the tortillas served with your meals in Managua and the floods that frequently occur in the city, but it exists.

Tortillas in Managua are cooked over firewood from the higher zones of the city and neighbouring municipalities such as Tipitapa which is one of the most deforested in the country. Jaime Incer Barquero, president of Fundenic SOS and a former Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources, never tires of pointing out the contradiction to the people in the higher zones of Managua: “In the mornings they go down to the city with their carts full of firewood, and later they return with water.”[1] Incer points out that these people do not have any water because they are felling their trees for firewood which they sell in order to buy water. If they didn’t fell their trees, their water sources would still be viable and they could save themselves the journey.

According to the article in La Prensa[2], more than one of the wells of the Nicaraguan Company of Water and Sewage Systems (ENACAL) in the south of the city has dried up. Floods, droughts, a lack of water and even landslides are only some of the most dangerous collateral damage caused, at least in part, by the irrational use of firewood in Nicaragua. “Urbanisation has only increased the use of firewood for cooking. The Young Environmentalists Club believes that the firewood problem is a reflection of two things: the underdevelopment of the country and the difficulty in accessing alternative technologies.”[3]


[1] Jaime Incer Barquero cited in ‘La leña causa serios daños colaterales’, in La Prensa, Managua, 6 March 2011.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Nicaragua News (8 March 2011) ‘Firewood cooking has many consequences’, Nicaragua News Service, Managua.

Wind energy and power privatisation in Nicaragua

In September 2000 plans to bring wind power to Nicaragua were scuppered by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) which blocked the Spanish company IBERDROLA from providing this renewable resource.[1] The reason was that the value of the soon-to-be privatised national power company ENEL, would be significantly lowered, since the Spanish company would be able to provide substantially cheaper rates of power than ENEL. The foreign companies bidding to buy ENEL would therefore be allowed to continue to generate power, and pollution, from oil in old facilities which are constantly at risk of breakdown.

IDB officials threatened the Nicaraguan government with the stoppage of all IDB support should they proceed with the IBERDROLA deal. This was almost universally seen as a direct violation of Nicaraguan sovereignty. Despite strong opposition, however, the Nicaraguan government continued to privatise ENEL and agreed that a contract with the Spanish energy company would have negative impacts on the privatisation.

Outwardly, there were powerful interests which did not wish to see the conversion of an energy source that would liberate a country like Nicaragua from spending its scarce foreign exchange resources on importing petroleum to burn in inefficient and pollution-causing power stations.[2]


[1] Environmental Network for Central America (ENCA) (February 2001) ‘IDB blocks wind power in Nicaragua’, ENCA Newsletter No.28, pp.6-7.
[2] Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign (NSC) (Sept 2000) Eco-Alert correspondence, ‘Inter-American Development Bank Blocks Wind-Power in Nicaragua’, nsc@nicaraguasc.org.uk.

Oil exploration in Belize

In 2005 Belize also became an oil producing nation and Belize Natural Energy Ltd (a US company) was formed to exploit it. Despite the fact that it has no refining capacity and therefore has to continue importing all its oil requirements, for a small country like Belize the chance to provide all its own energy from sources within the country is obviously enticing; and as usual the websites of the oil companies involved all display their commitment to environmental responsibility. There is no difficulty, however, in finding Belizeans who oppose oil drilling and who believe that their country can still provide all its energy requirements from within its borders without oil. APAMO (Association of Protected Areas Management Organisations), for instance, is an umbrella group of NGOs involved in managing Belizean protected areas and has called for a total ban on offshore oil exploration after a map showing oil concession areas was leaked to the press. SATIIM (Sarstoon Temash Institute for Indigenous Management) also expressed their concern to the government about oil development and are calling for a referendum on the issue.