U.S. Capital Energy moving into Conejo Village

Seismic testing in protected areas in the south is in full swing despite strong objections from residents and non-government organizations, including the Sarstoon Temash Institute for Indigenous Management. Tonight there is some trouble brewing because U.S. Capital Energy Ltd., represented in Belize by businessman Alistair King, has been conducting geophysical explorations in the Toledo District near Barranco since October of last year.  Survey activities have reached Conejo, an indigenous community several miles northwest of Barranco.  On January seventeenth, residents of the village discovered via GPS reading that a seismic line was cut across the Conejo lagoon and Vieras Creek.  Conejo is one of few Maya communities that do not fall under the protection of ancestral land rights.  According to Chairman Enrique Makin, permission was not granted to the oil company for any such activity to take place within the village’s boundary.  Makin has since issued a cease and desist order, through a letter sent to U.S. Capital Energy, for all seismic testing to be carried out outside of Conejo.  News Five spoke with Alistair King this afternoon and while he admitted to receiving that letter earlier today he says he has instructed his workmen to file a report to determine how far into the village the lines are located before being able to fully address the matter.