“Communities File Lawsuit for Recognition of Rights of the Marañon River in Peru” - May 16, 2018

Today, with their lawyers from EarthRights International and Instituto de Defensa Legal, communities affected by the Chadín 2 Hydroelectric Project filed a constitutional request for protection in Peru to guarantee their fundamental rights through the protection of the Marañón River and its rich biodiversity, declaring its Environmental Impact Assesment (EIA) invalid…The project will create energy by damming the waters of the Marañón River, whose reservoir will have an area of 32.5 square kilometers and will flood the surrounding lands. This would displace at least 1,000 people living in Cajamarca and Amazonas, resulting in the irreparable damage to their ecosystem…The construction of this dam is part of a larger mega project that includes more than 20 planned dams on the Marañon River, which is one of the major tributaries of the Amazon River… “These projects have been approved with serious signs of corruption of politicians and the company Odebrecht and should be canceled.” [said]-Milton Sánchez Cuba, Inter-institutional Platform Celendina…