Application

“Tourism as an ally in the fight to save Peten”

Group B

Anylu Arzola
Luis Borbon
Roberto Mucino
Perla Palacios
Oscar Sánchez
Karen Shelly Cervantes

INSTRUCTOR
Jennifer Tallow

COURSE TITLE AND NUMBER:

MMBA-6251V-1 International Trade

DATE
October 10, 2009

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 “Our world faces a true planetary emergency”, the phrase may sound shrill, and

it is a challenge to the moral imagination” as was said by Al Gore, 45th Vice President

of the United States (Brainy Quotes) Several world regions are facing between

sociopolitical, economical and ecological damages letting the Peten Mayan Biosphere

Reserve located in Guatemala the best example of it. According to the United Nations

Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the cities that comprise

the department of Peten are considered as the Core of the Mayan civilizations and have

been declared as Heritage of Humanity in 1979 by the same international organism.

Mayans used to call it Noj Petén, which means “Big Island.” Its territory is considered a

natural and cultural world heritage area and also it is regarded as the living lungs of the

entire region because of its lush vegetation. Some of Petén’s territories are part of the

Mayan Biosphere Reservation that forms part of the only 24 such sites worldwide. It is

a shame that the 75% of Peten could be destroyed in 10 to 15 years.

The actual problem of Peten reservation is the extreme poverty of the zone, the

drug traffic, the illegal immigration and the destruction of archeological treasures.

Eduardo Cofiño, a conservation specialist from the Department of Peten has proposed a

monumental project related to the World Network Biosphere Reserve Project from the

UNESCO, in which the Biosphere Reserves seeks to integrated three main functions to

obtain a natural and social balance, these functions are the conservation of biodiversity

and cultural diversity, the economical development that is socio-culturally and

environmentally sustainable, and finally the logistic support for research, monitoring,

environmental education and training. The project is dedicated to preserve the Mayan

forest in Belize, Mexico and Guatemala and the plan is to invest in infrastructure in

order to shelter the tourism. Some of the actions he proposes are: Investing in the

restoration and promotion of tourism. The goal is to attract more tourists and invite

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them to stay more days discovering the wonders Peten has; the funds gained from

tourism could be re-invested and generate an improvement in the region as well as the

decrease of environmental degradation. The IDB Bank gave a loan of $19.8 millions to

promote a Program to improve the environmental conditions in this area, with

government’s help. On the other hand, the IDB Bank approved a sum of $800, 000 to

be used in the environmental protection of the Mayan forest of Guatemala, Mexico and

Belize.

According to the Guatemala’s Foreign Minister, Haroldo Rodas the budget

assigned to Guatemala in the Merida Plan is not enough to fight and win the drug war.

The region that is in risk is the Mayan Biosphere in Peten because it is starting to be a

place of illegal transactions between Colombian and Mexican drug dealers. The

Minister also appointed that if the governments from Mexico, Guatemala and Belize do

not do anything about it the “narco” activities in Guatemala will increase affecting the

zone; the drug dealers will control the whole region destroying the Mayan Biosphere

and the world heritage zones like Tikal and Mirador Archeological sites. So analyzing

the problem of Peten is not only to include the environmental and the tourism as a

feasible solution, the real problem of the zone is the drug traffic inside the region, the

proposal to establish a global agreement between Mexico, Belize and Guatemala to

promote the management of the ecosystem, is a good idea imposed by Cofiño.

How would you apply the specificity rule to the situation in Guatemala’s Petén

region?

The specificity rule states, “it is usually more efficient to use the government

policy tool that acts as directly as possible on the source of the distortion separating

private and social benefits or costs” (International Economics, A. Pugel, p.204). The

rule can be applied by separating the private and social benefits, the latter being more

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important (social), before giving private benefits it is important to provide social

benefits (not only from human perspective) but also to ensure the importance of

environmental care. And in the Petén region it is important for people to have a

development so that development may be considered if the government protects its

citizens with specific rules for the development of the domestic economy. Government

has the authority to take decisions in order to solve internal issues and as these are non

lucrative, most of the time society benefits without any cost, but as everything, not all

the people is fully satisfied or not all the sectors are completely covered.

In this case, Coffin has, in one hand, the economic resources and a plan to

develop but he does not have the necessary tools to implement it; in the other hand, the

government supports him but it fixes the rules and it is a double sharp weapon because

it can take a long time or be immediately fixed. The government has an enormous

power but sometimes it does not use it properly or it is applied only to one sector and

the others are forgotten, there is not a balance and sectors seem to be ranked;

fortunately, nowadays environmental issues have taken an important place so Coffin’s

worry about restoring and rescuing Peten can be seriously taken in account.

What effects do you think a global agreement would have on the promotion of

ecosystem management in the Mayan forest in Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala?

The effects of an overall agreement between the three zones would be greater

interaction between them, and at the same time strengthen the cooperation for further

development of the area.

In general the positive effects:

• Development of the Maya area

• Human development within the region

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 • Tourism development

• Economic growth

• Protection of important areas

• Infrastructure development

Whether the problem refers to population, agriculture or even a disinterest for

the conservation, Peten traverses the risk of losing its national and international

attractiveness. The culture and the education of the people have an important role in the

development of facts, since it depends in a great degree on them for changes to happen.

Even if the zone by itself does not allow the free transit of population, visitors and

tourists, it is possible to change this situation. The construction of roads or highways to

unvisited or uncommon areas of Peten would mean a considerable inversion, however

the results from this will significantly increment tourism and so the incomes for more

investment. We should remember that Peten “is an extensive and endangered territory

with archaeological marvels hidden in its exuberant forest”.

New politics and regulations must be established and fomented in order to create

an effective and efficient development of Peten, making possible a better scenario for

this Mayan Biosphere Reservation. The sustainable development project should bring

benefits for both residents and tourists, always remembering that the responsibility for a

better well-being depends on the two parties. Working all together with Mexico and

Belize with the support of the Inter-American Development Bank, Guatemala would be

able to grow as a country and more important, preserve this world heritage area.

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References:

• Brainy Quotes. (n.d). Authors Quotes. Retrieved on October 10, 2009, from

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/al_gore.html

• The Core of the Mayan Area. (2002). Retrieved on October 10, 2009, from

http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1754/

• Tourism as an ally in the fight to save Peten. (2007). Retrieved on October 10, 2009,

from http://www.iadb.org/NEWS/detail.cfm?language=English&id=3605

• N/A. (2008, October, 3) Merida Plan Insufficient to fifth Narco Activity in

Guatemala the Guatemala Times. Retrieved from http://www.guatemala-

times.com/opinion/editorial/403-merida-plan-insufficient-to-fight-narco-activity-in-

guatemala.html

• United Nations, Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization: Man and the

Biosphere Program. (2009). Retrieved on October 10, 2009, from

http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001848/184853M.pdf