Washington, D.C. – Environmental and human rights organizations criticized the legacy of Enrique Iglesias, outgoing president of the Inter-American Development Bank, on the eve of his departure after 17 years, concluding that during his tenure, the IDB caused more harm than good.
Though some may feel compelled to express praise, Amazon Watch’s Executive Director, Atossa Soltani shares a different view: “Iglesias led the bank with a myopic vision of short-term economic growth while sacrificing sustainable and equitable development for the people of Latin America. Iglesias’ true legacy is the ruinous projects that the IDB bankrolled, which devastated ancient rainforests and the livelihoods of indigenous and rural communities throughout the region.”
Under Iglesias’ leadership, the IDB approved some of the most environmentally harmful projects in the Bank’s history, including the Caña Brava dam project in Brazil, the Yacyretá dam project in the Argentina-Uruguay border and the Camisea gas project in the Peruvian Amazon. In each of these cases, the IDB-funded projects spoiled pristine ecosystems and displaced and impoverished local communities.
The IDB’s financing of the massive Camisea gas project in 2003 has brought irreparable harm to pristine rainforests and the demise indigenous populations in a remote corner of the Peruvian Amazon. Despite the IDB’s touting of the project’s economic benefit for Peruvians, the bigger winner has been the Peruvian military, with nearly half of project royalties going toward the military’s budget for arms acquisition.
In December 2004, only four months after the Camisea project’s inauguration, the pipeline ruptured, spilling gas liquids and contaminating the Urubamba River, which local people depend on for drinking water. Since the project began, indigenous communities report a drop in fish stock and increased illness and malnutrition among their people. Peru’s Ministry of Health acknowledges that the Nanti people living near the gas fields have contracted respiratory infections and that the survival of the tribe is at risk.
Under the leadership of incoming president, Luis Alberto Moreno, the IDB will decide on funding a second, even bigger phase of the Camisea project (dubbed Camisea II), as well as dozens of dams, pipelines and other large scale industrial projects proposed as part of the plan known as Infrastructure for Regional Integration of Latin America (IIRSA). While Iglesias’ 17-year tenure has failed to advance sustainable development, Moreno is presented with the opportunity to lead the IDB to do more good than harm in the decades ahead.
