Mario Rene Xol used to enjoy life in Aldea Tierra Negra, an Indigenous village bordering the Lachuá-Ik’bolay Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) in northeastern Guatemala. Since the arrival of palm oil in 2006, Xol saw all but three small farms sold off to the land’s new owners: Industria Chiquibul, one of the 14 palm oil mills operating in the region. Today, at least two-thirds of Xol’s community work for them as the subsistence farming community shifted toward minimum-wage jobs offered by the palm mill. Families of turtles near his house, once common along the San Román River that was diverted to irrigate the palm plantations, are now a rare sight, as are the fish and shrimp he used to catch with his family. Swarms of insects plague the residents. “We used to live much better when there was no palm,” he told Mongabay in a telephone call. “My home today is surrounded by thousands of flies. It’s horrible — you can’t even eat outside or sit on the patio anymore.” Oil palm fruit. Image by Rhett A. Butler / Mongabay. In 2019, Xol was fired from his informal manual labor position after trying to organize better working conditions. In the same year, Cargill suspended trade with Industria Chiquibul after the latter declined an independent labor audit in response to allegations of labor rights violations. Still, the palm oil company sells to multinational giants Bimbo, Mondelez and PepsiCo. The oil extracted from palm fruits is present in most industrialized products today, including…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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