COMMISSIONS: The Curse of Palm Oil in Guatemala: 04-20180213palm0334

IZABAL, GUATEMALA. February 13, 2018 – Palm fruit on the forest floor. According to a 2006 UN report on {quote}The right to food,” Guatemala’s land policies were deliberately designed to create cheap labour forces by reducing the land available for indigenous people's own subsistence activities. The country has a long history of exclusionary development that has left indigenous communities without land or labour rights and subject to pervasive racial discrimination, the report said.Guatemala has the second-largest rainforest cover in Latin America, after Brazil. The country lost an average of 68,000 hectares a year between 2005 and 2010 (3.72% per year). The rate of deforestation has almost tripled in a decade due to government regulations that incentivize productive lands over natural areas and promote subsidized development.

IZABAL, GUATEMALA. February 13, 2018 – Palm fruit on the forest floor.  

According to a 2006 UN report on "The right to food,” Guatemala’s land policies were deliberately designed to create cheap labour forces by reducing the land available for indigenous people's own subsistence activities. The country has a long history of exclusionary development that has left indigenous communities without land or labour rights and subject to pervasive racial discrimination, the report said. 

Guatemala has the second-largest rainforest cover in Latin America, after Brazil. The country lost an average of 68,000 hectares a year between 2005 and 2010 (3.72% per year). The rate of deforestation has almost tripled in a decade due to government regulations that incentivize productive lands over natural areas and promote subsidized development.