COMMISSIONS: The Curse of Palm Oil in Guatemala: 02-20180213palm0310

IZABAL, GUATEMALA. February 13, 2018 – A worker harvests palm fruits with an extension pole at a palm oil farm in eastern Guatemala. The palm trees can grow up to 40 feet and live up to 30 years producing fruit.Palm companies provide seasonal jobs for indigenous Mayan Q'eqchi communities along Lake Izabal. In the last 20 years, palm oil plantations in the region replaced former cattle ranches but it has exacerbated the struggle for land rights in the Polochic Valley. In Guatemala, only four percent of producers control 80 percent of the land. Approximately 60 percent of citizens live in poverty but rises to 80 percent among the indigenous communities. {quote}The indigenous population was always seen as cheap labor and this persists to this day,{quote} said Alvaro Pop, Chair of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. {quote}They are seen as a tool and are not the focus of public policies.”

IZABAL, GUATEMALA. February 13, 2018 – A worker harvests palm fruits with an extension pole at a palm oil farm in eastern Guatemala. The palm trees can grow up to 40 feet and live up to 30 years producing fruit. 

Palm companies provide seasonal jobs for indigenous Mayan Q'eqchi communities along Lake Izabal. In the last 20 years, palm oil plantations in the region replaced former cattle ranches but it has exacerbated the struggle for land rights in the Polochic Valley.  

In Guatemala, only four percent of producers control 80 percent of the land. Approximately 60 percent of citizens live in poverty but rises to 80 percent among the indigenous communities. "The indigenous population was always seen as cheap labor and this persists to this day," said Alvaro Pop, Chair of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. "They are seen as a tool and are not the focus of public policies.”