In yesterday's news, you heard the latest on the Chiquibul Forest from the Friends for Conservation and Development. One part of the 75 minute press conference we didn't air - has to do with the arrest of a single farmer back on November 26th. It was a minor news item - but according to the Executive Director of FCD, it had a major impact on environmental enforcement. Here's how he explained it:..
Raphael Manzanero - Executive Director, FCD
"Just a couple of weeks ago there was one of the persons that were detained and that guy for the very first time it was a milpa farmer. If you look at the historical context in Chiquibul, there has never been an arrest on a Guatemalan farmer. This time this person was caught and this person was charged $6,000 which was really something historical in our aspect of looking at the environmental enforcement."
In lieu of paying the fine, the farmer will have to spend three years in prison.
Email
Print