Assassinated Guatemalan Park Ranger: The People Fight On
In a few hours it will mark one week since Guatemalan Park Ranger Samuel Rodríguez Reyes was assassinated in his office. In the past few days much has been revealed about the complexities of Mr. Rodriguez’s work protecting the Cerro San Gil national reserve. Even more interesting, people living near the park are cautiously carrying on his fight.
Red handed. Police examine the explosives found to blow holes for cell phone towers in the Cerro San Gil national reserve. Photo courtesy of Prensa Libre.
Mr. Rodriguez persistently reported on logging, hunting and, in particular, illegal construction inside the park’s borders. So, when local residents heard explosions last Tuesday (two days after the assassination), they got the national police out to the park. Guess what? They made an arrest. Ángel Patricio Rico Contreras, a Chilean, was caught red-handed with 50 pounds of explosives, detonators, ammonium nitrate, fuses and everything else to blow holes for the base of a cell phone tower.
Apparently Mr. Rico was up in the park blowing holes that were heard for miles around — neighbors living in the vicinity immediately called the police who moved in to arrest Rico, an employee of A.J. Ingenieros Constructora — a local contractor for Tigo, a huge cell phone company. What did Tigo have to say for themselves? They chose to pass the buck stating that it is the responsibility of A.J. Ingenieros Constructora to get the contracts and do environmental impact studies. Hmmm…
This is the small office where park ranger Samuel Rodriguez was found last Saturday morning.
Not only was there not an impact study, but A.J. Ingenieros Constructora did not have a license to use explosives. I think Mr. Rico has got himself in quite a predicament. He’s caught somewhere between illegal detonations and assassinations. Tough spot considering he’s probably just a guy hired to go blow some holes.
If I were the Guatemalan police, I’d be looking very closely at A.J. Ingenieros Constructora and their relationship with the assassinated park ranger. If I were the Guatemalan Attorney General, I’d be looking very closely at the relationship between Tigo and A.J. Ingenieros Constructora. More to follow.
