from the DataCenter's Environmental Justice Program, Spring/Summer 2002.

Indigenous Communities Oppose Plan Puebla-Panamá

In March 2001, Mexican President Vicente Fox formally launched Plan Puebla-Panamá (PPP), a comprehensive plan for a major transportation and industrial corridor to extend from Puebla, Mexico all the way to Panama. The PPP poses a tremendous threat to the ecology, traditional agrarian economy and indigenous cultures of the region.

The Grupo de Trabajo Colectivo del Istmo de Tehuantepec (GTCI), a primarily indigenous Mexican group with strong ties to Unión de Comunidades Indígenas de la Zona Norte del Istmo (UCIZONI) of Oaxaca, is a key participant in the Mexican network of organizations that is coordinating opposition to the Plan Puebla-Panamá. The GTCI and many other organizations in Mexico and Central America demand that the Mexican government, the Inter-American Development Bank, and corporate planners take into account the concerns of the people who would be significantly affected by the PPP. Residents are mounting stiff opposition to the project.

The PPP campaign has brought together peoples from throughout Southern Mexico and Central America. GTCI collective members are playing an important role in gathering information at the community level and providing information back to the communities.

The DataCenter has been working with the GTCI since June 2001. We produce monthly summaries in Spanish of the international press coverage on PPP developments. We have also researched primary industries and selected companies in the region.

The GTCI has utilized our research to inform campaign strategy and to educate people about the PPP. The group discusses the research at monthly meetings, shares it with other Mexican, Central American and North American organizations, and publishes it on their web site. GTCI members have written a book about the PPP (now available, email ucizoni@laneta.apc.org) and published a popular education reader/comic book using the information. The research has also been used to respond to requests for information and interviews with the media.

In addition, a coalition of groups in the United States and Canada including ACERCA (Action for Community and Ecology in the Regions of Central America) is utilizing the DataCenter summaries to identify companies and issues they will further research.

For further information, see Mesoamerica Resiste al PPP (in Spanish).