Guatemalan government opts for oil drilling over protecting its national parks

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In a move that has left environmentalists and most of the Guatemalan population fuming, President Alvaro Colom yesterday renewed a 15-year contract for oil drilling in Guatemala's Laguna del Tigre National Park. The park is part of the larger Maya Biosphere Reserve and a Ramsar-designated wetland of international importance. Oil drilling has been present in the park since before its creation in 1990, but with the concession's contract set to expire this year, environmentalists and international activists hoped the government would not renew it in light of the area's status as a national park. Oil drilling in Laguna del Tigre has proven environmentally devastating on the local ecosystem, according to studies commissioned by the previous government. Laguna del Tigre and its surrounding forests have been decimated by settlers, drug traffickers and cattle ranchers using roads built by the oil company to access once-remote areas that have now been cleared.

Adding insult to injury, Colom ignored pleas by German legislators offering to offset the costs from the loss of oil revenue via a debt-for-nature swap similar to one successfully implemented in Ecuador. Although the new oil drilling contract provides more money for local communities and Guatemalan environmental protection agencies, critics cite continued environmental degradation inside national park lands as one of many reasons for the contract's illegality. Environmentalists have said they will protest Colom's decision with actions in Guatemala's Constitutional Court. Among those opposing Colom's decision was the environment minister, Luis Ferrate. Many in Guatemala cite Colom's decision as one-sided and in opposition to the desires expressed by the general populace; they wonder what kind of government corruption may lie behind the decision.