La Libertad, Petén facts for kids

Quick facts for kids La Libertad
La Libertad, Petén Location in Guatemala
Country	Guatemala
Department	El Petén
Climate	Am

La Libertad is a town in the El Petén department of Guatemala. It is home to about 79,000 people. This area has a lot of oil underground. Companies have been getting this oil since the 1980s.

History of La Libertad

The Dos Erres Event

In October 1982, during a time of conflict in Guatemala, a group of rebels attacked an army convoy. This happened near a place called Palestina, close to Dos Erres. They killed 21 soldiers and took 19 rifles.

On December 4, a group of 58 special army commandos, known as Kaibiles, arrived in the area. The next day, they were told to pretend to be rebels. Their mission was to go to Dos Erres and harm the people living there. The army thought these people supported the rebels.

The Kaibiles arrived in the village very early on December 6. They made everyone leave their homes. The men were gathered in the schoolhouse, and the women and children were put in the two churches. The soldiers searched the homes but found no weapons or rebel messages.

Later that morning, the officers spoke to their commanders by radio. They then told the commandos they would be "vaccinating" the villagers after breakfast.

On December 6, 1982, during the time General Efraín Ríos Montt was leading the country, a terrible event happened. Over 200 people, including women, older people, and children, were killed. This was done by government forces as part of a harsh military plan. This plan was called the scorched earth policy. It meant destroying everything in an area.

The killings continued into December 7. On the morning of December 8, as the Kaibiles were getting ready to leave, 15 more people arrived. These included children. The Kaibiles reportedly took these new arrivals away and killed most of them.

Climate in La Libertad

The main town of La Libertad is about 188 meters (617 feet) above sea level. The area has a tropical monsoon climate. This means it is very warm to hot all year round. It has a wet season from May to November. There is also a drier season with some rain from December to April.

Natural Resources

Oil Reserves

Guatemala oil reserves.

One important oil area is called "Xan field." It has 47 wells where oil is drilled. The exploration of this field started in the mid-1950s.

A company called Basic Resources began looking for oil in the 1970s. They started selling oil in the 1980s, during the Guatemala Civil War. In the 1970s, Basic Resources worked with a French company called Elf Aquitaine.

By 1993, Basic Resources had a special factory in La Libertad. This factory, called a refinery, cleans the oil. They also had a pipeline that carried oil from the Xan wells to a place called Laguna del Tigre.

In 1985, Basic Resources signed a 25-year agreement with the Guatemalan government. However, in the mid-1990s, new environmental laws were made. Also, groups of citizens started to worry about the negative effects of oil drilling in Laguna del Tigre. Basic Resources tried to help by starting projects for the environment, but the protests continued.

Later, in the late 1990s, an American company called Union Pacific bought Basic Resources. Then, in 2001, it was sold again for $102.5 million to a French company named Perenco.

See also

In Spanish: La Libertad (Petén) para niños