Governments, backed by transnational corporations, plan to build more [dams] to curb their dependence on increasingly costly petroleum... Although [hydroenergy] is valued as a clean and renewable source of electricity that also permits regulation of water use, it is also criticised for its serious social and environmental impacts, arising from the displacement of people and destruction of habitat for the creation of reservoirs. A referendum in Guatemala this month halted construction of three hydroelectric facilities in the Río Hondo community [joint venture Alaska Power & Telephone, Ghella]... [also refers to Parota project, Mexico; two projects on Madeira River, Brazil; Endesa project in Patagonia, Chile; Tigre project, Honduras/El Salvador]