42 Guatemalans living in Chiquibul

The Chiquibul forest has turned out to be a lucrative source of income for Guatemalans, who, for over a decade have been carrying on illegal activities. Earlier this week we reported on the logging, xate harvesting and the poaching of the Scarlet Macaw. Tonight, we focus on the settlements established within Belizean territory by Guatemalan farmers. Although the work of Friends of Conservation and Development has highlighted the threat to the Chiquibul, for years, nothing has really been done. News Five’s Andrea Polanco concludes her series tonight on the Chiquibul.

Andrea Polanco, Reporting

The environmental impact of raids on the Chiquibul have repercussions on our natural resources, but the most critical issue relates to the territorial integrity and security of our country. The incursions started at a slow pace, but to date, the Guatemalans have formed settlements on Belizean soil.

Rigoberto Gutierrez & Family

In 2009, Guatemalan Rigoberto Gutierrez, was found armed inside the Chiquibul. Gutierrez and his family have since established their settlement in the Chiquibul National Park, which is some one hundred meters inside Belize. This July 2009 air reconnaissance image only shows his home. By 2010 Gutierrez had used a bulldozer to construct this pond, which is some two hundred meters inside Belize.

Rafael Manzanero, Executive Director, FCD

“Well, Mr. Gutierrez, we understand he has been living for more than fifteen years inside the Chiquibul National Park. He has been detained before for the possession of firearms and at the time he was brought out to the police station in San Ignacio. We were informed that he was charged but to our surprise he was released, we are not certain under what kind of conditions or why he was released. But that would be really for the police to indicate. However, our observations have showed that yes, he is still in the area.”

Rafael Manzanero

Andrea Polanco

“Do you know if he is acting as an illegal logger or a Xatero?”

Rafael Manzanero

“Well, in one of the operations conducted he was found with a chainsaw and in fact the first time when he was found with the firearm, he also had in his possession a chainsaw; so we would want to believe then that he is one of the loggers involved in the activities taking place in this area.”

But Gutierrez is only one of some forty plus Guatemalans that have established camps illegally inside Belize. Meet Elias Ramirez, who is squatting with his entire family a hundred meters inside Belize, albeit close to the border.

Elias Ramirez & Family

He as has twelve children, his wife, parents and other extended family members living in this area. Ramirez’s home also serves as a church, where the squatters hold service at least once a month.

Rafael Manzanero

“There are some people who have been living inside the Caracol Area and the Chiquibul National Park. Our estimates are that it would be about forty-three individuals living inside Belize, particularly the Adjacency Zone, as considered by Guatemala.”

The Guatemalan families are raising animals, like these cows and are also planting and harvesting crops inside Belize. These corn fields are planted in the Adjacency Zone and extend from Guatemala up to half kilometer inside Belize.

Rafael Manzanero

“The Caracol Area which is basically where we are right now, from the Western Border, we are around six to seven kilometers or so away from that Western Border. So if we can look at that landscape if we can look closer to the western border, what we can see is clearings, those clearings are a demonstration of the expansion of the agricultural frontier At this particular moment, right now we are in the month of November, what it really means is that the people, the farmers around the western border would already be harvesting their crops, which would be corn, beans and pumpkin seeds, are the main food items that they would be planting along that main area.”

An assessment of the area shows that in 1987, the Guatemalans had cleared one hundred and thirteen hectares of land, and twenty years later, in 2007 the figure was up to four thousand four hundred and sixty two hectares. By 2011, they deforested cleared four thousand nine hundred and thirty one hectares:

Rafael Manzanero

“The milpa farming is something that we have been following up since we took up co-management responsibilities in the Chiquibul Forest. And what we are seeing is than an average of some two hundred and something acres, some three hundred acre would be occupied or deforested, deforested is basically the word because it really means that the forest cover has already been removed as a result of slash and burn. So the people would come, cut the trees, they would burn it and then they would plant.”

Fidelio Montes Sr.

Tour Operator, Fidelio Montes, has been conducting tours at the Caracol Archaeological Site for almost seventeen years. But the activities have left this senior tour operator shaken:

Fidelio Montes Sr., Discovery Expeditions

“It’s a pretty scary feeling for us as tour guides, cultural guides, representing Belize our beloved country to see that these illegal activities are happening within our boundary and apparently nothing much is being done about it. We have discussions with our armed forces out here; we can listen to these people chopping in the distance, a week ago, I heard the guys using a chainsaw behind the royal residence. I think this is very scary, if someone should get hurt, the industry could collapse, and people like myself, this is what we benefit from, this is our livelihood.”

Andrea Polanco

“Mr. Montes, discuss with us, this incident where your son was involved?”

Fidelio Montes Sr.

“Yes, about two years ago, he came to Caracol one day like we always do and one day from going out here he was stopped by a few armed men. Junior told me, Daddy, one day someone will get hurt, because I see a lot of activities, people walking around with dogs, guns, machetes, and they don’t look like our people and so sure enough it happened and Junior decided that he was going to break through this checkpoint that was set up on the road. And perhaps, it was because of his astuteness that the event did not go to worst.”

At the rate at which milpas are being established and the growing number of Guatemalans settling on Belizean soil, FCD projects that by 2015, five thousand seven hundred and thirty four hectares will be cleared out. And with a steady increase, by 2035 nine thousand seven hundred and forty nine of Belize’s land would be under Guatemalan milpas. Reporting for News Five, I’m Andrea Polanco.