AO - Guatemalan xatéros and loggers rape Columbia River Forest Reserve

From my archive of press clippings:

AmandalaOnline

Guatemalan xatéros and loggers rape Columbia River Forest Reserve

Posted: 06/06/2008 - 11:43 AM Author: - Amandala exclusive -

The Ya’axche’ Conservation Trust, a community-oriented NGO in southern Belize, has forwarded to Amandala the report of a multi-agency patrol conducted in May in the Colombia River Forest Reserve, which, we believe, is of national importance.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"Guatemalan xatéros and illegal loggers, for many decades, through successive Belizean political administrations, have largely had a free hand in decimating our forests and looting our national heritage near the border between Belize and Guatemala.

Today, police told us that in the reserve on Friday, May 23, 2008, they discovered three Guatemalan men, Concepcion Mendez Ramirez, 25, and brothers Isidora, 38, and Carlos Gomez, 28, with 50 bundles of xaté leaves. The men were charged with unlawful possession of forest produce and appeared in Punta Gorda Magistrate’s Court, in front of Magistrate Roberto Ordonez. They all pleaded guilty to the offence and were fined $500 each. They were unable to pay and are currently serving 6 months in jail."

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"(T)he remnants of a Mayan pot found at a xatéro camp demonstrates that, as has been seen in the Chiquibul, the cultural heritage of Belize is being slowly dug up and exported. It will never be known what else has already been removed by the highly active Guatemalans from the Southern Maya Mountains, as the area’s archaeological significance has been explored only on the outskirts.

The high level of illegal human activity in the area appears to be having a devastating impact on the local populations of wildlife. All of the patrol members agreed that almost no wildlife was seen in the area, compared to what should have been very high levels. This observation is supported by sightings of shotgun cartridges, the carrying of a slingshot by one of the xatéros, remains of birds and kinkajous (nightwalker) that had been killed and eaten in the area."