Political Quotes

“Mr. President, more than 30 years ago, in the midst of Guatemala's civil war, the construction of a large hydroelectric dam on the Chixoy River resulted in destruction of 33 indigenous Mayan communities and the massacres of more than 400 villagers and other abuses by the Guatemalan army. The history of that tragedy is well known so I will not recount it here. Suffice it to say that a great injustice was committed. There was ample blame to go around between the Army, the World Bank, and Inter- American Development Bank that financed the dam, governments, including the United States, whose representatives on the banks' boards of directors voted for the construction, and subsequent Guatemalan Governments that failed to compensate the victims or punish those responsible. Last month, the Guatemalan Government and representatives of the communities culminated many months of negotiations with an agreement to implement the contents of the 2010 reparations plan, including individual payments and community development investments that will be financed over a period of years. The agreement was formalized at a public ceremony on Saturday, November 1, attended by Guatemala's President Otto Perez Molina, members of the communities, other government officials, and representatives of the multilateral banks and the United Nations.…”