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WORLDWIDE
FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS
VICTORY:
Oil Exploration Ends in Guatemala's Maya Biosphere Reserve
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Forest Networking a Project of Forests.org
http://forests.org/ -- Forest
Conservation Archives & Portal
10/29/00
OVERVIEW
& COMMENTARY
Tropical
Verde and Global Response report success in their letter
campaign
to stop oil exploration and development in Guatemala's Maya
Biosphere
Reserve. In mid-2000 many hundreds of
letters and emails,
some
undoubtedly generated from this email list, demanded that
Guatemalan
authorities retract their plan to open the Maya Biosphere
Reserve
to oil development. It is reported that
"the government
recognized
the severe social and environmental impacts that oil
development
could provoke, and made a decision without precedent in
our
country: oil development will not proceed as long as the people
of
Guatemala oppose it."
Congratulations to all that wielded the
power
of the pen (or computer) in support of Guatemala's local
environmental
movement.
g.b.
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RELAYED
TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: GR Action #2-00: VICTORY and "Thank You" from Guatemala
Source: Global Response <globresponse@igc.org>
Date: October 11, 2000
Dear
Members of Global Response's "Quick Response Network:"
Another
VICTORY to celebrate!
Hot on
the heels of our successful letter campaigns in India and
Kenya,
we just received this letter from Guatemala.
Tropico Verde
reports
SUCCESS in our letter campaign to stop oil exploration and
development
in Guatemala's Maya Biosphere Reserve!
Thanks
and congratulations to all who helped win this victory for the
environment
and the people of Guatemala.
Guatemala,
October 2000
Dear
Friends at Global Response,
In this
letter we want to bring you up to date concerning the threats
to the
Maya Biosphere Reserve from oil development.
During the
months
of April, May and June of this year, we received hundreds of
letters
and emails, demanding that Guatemalan authorities respect one
of the
last remaining tropical forests on our planet.
We are very
happy
to inform you that the pressure was successful!
Under the
leadership of Tropico Verde, and with your invaluable
support,
the international campaign was a complete victory. The
government
of Guatemala retracted its plan to open the Maya Biosphere
Reserve
to oil development. The government
recognized the severe
social
and environmental impacts that oil development could provoke,
and
made a decision without precedent in our country: oil development
will
not proceed as long as the people of Guatemala oppose it.
This
decision is very important for us, although we realize that
there's
a long road ahead and we must keep our attention on this
issue
so that the decision is never reversed.
But know that together
you and
we have accomplished a huge achievement.
We send
you our most sincere appreciation for your support and your
solidarity
with our cause. Your letters were very
important in
winning
this victory, and we want you to know that we will always
remember
your gesture of solidarity. We would
have liked to respond
to each
one of you, but this is impossible for us because of the
large
amount of letters and other demands on our time. To all who
wrote
us personal messages as well as letters to the government, we
assure
you we read your comments with much attention; excuse us for
not
responding individually.
Wishing
you all the best,
Piedad
Espinosa, President
Tropico
Verde
14
calle 5-08 Zona 10
01010
Guatemala, Guatemala
###RELAYED
TEXT ENDS###
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