Originally published on It’s Going Down.

The following article by Vidulfo Rosales Sierra, translated by Scott Campbell, pays tribute to Marco Antonio Suástegui, a longtime and well-respected community organizer in Guerrero, Mexico, who played a key role in the defeat of the neoliberal La Parota dam project. He was targeted by a gunman and shot eight times on April 18, passing away on April 25.

Marco Antonio Suástegui Muñoz, son of Pedro Suástegui Valeriano and Noelia Muñoz Rodríguez, campesinos from La Parota. The Suásteguis are the founders of the communal nucleus of Cacahuatepec, they and other families fought for the creation of communally held property. Later, other leaders would be coopted by the PRI members of the National Campesino Confederation (CNC), one of the cacique figures was Eduardo Valente Navidad. These corrupt leaders handed out commission positions and sold lands to the highest bidder.

In 2000, the federal government began to talk about several large-scale infrastructure projects. Airports and large dams to generate energy and provide water to cities and towns would be built. One of these was to be in Guerrero. It was La Parota hydroelectric dam. It would cover an area of 17,000 hectares and would be 190 meters high. It would cover the municipalities of Acapulco, San Marcos, and Juan R. Escudero. The reservoir would be used as a lake for ecotourism. The bay of Acapulco would be joined with La Parota dam.

In 2003, with René Juárez as governor, engineers from the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) began to build wells and sample houses, heliports, and other basic works, without consulting the community. The campesinos became concerned and obtained information about the damage caused by the work.

The communities of Garrapatas, Arroyo Verde, and San José would be buried under water. This worried them and, in their assemblies, they decided to set up an encampment in El Fraile to block the passage of machinery and CFE personnel. The campesinos went to see Marco Antonio and Felipe Flores for advice and to strengthen the movement. Marco Antonio did not hesitate for a moment. He went to the encampment. Together with Felipe Flores, they began to organize the struggle, traveling through various communities with communal lands, the ejidos of Dos Arroyos and Los Huajes.

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