The Usumacinta River (; named after the
howler monkey) is a
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of ...
in southeastern
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
and northwestern
Guatemala
Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by Hon ...
. It is formed by the junction of the
Pasión River, which arises in the
Sierra de Santa Cruz (in Guatemala) and the
Salinas River, also known as the
Rio Chixoy, or the Rio Negro, which descends from the
Sierra Madre de Guatemala. It defines part of the border between Guatemala and the
Mexican state of
Chiapas
Chiapas (; Tzotzil and Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 124 municipalities ...
, then continues its northwesterly course, meandering through the Mexican state of
Tabasco to the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...
.
After serving as a border between Mexico and Guatemala, the Usumacinta River enters Mexican territory in the state of Tabasco and across the
Cañón del Usumacinta (Usumacinta Canyon) ecological reserve, forming impressive canyons along its route. Passing the canyon called ''"Boca del Cerro",''
Tenosique, the Usumacinta goes into the plain of Tabasco.
Two distributaries, the
Palizada River and
San Pedro y San Pablo River, branch from the main stem of the Usumacinta and empty north and east into the
Laguna de Términos. In Tabasco the
Grijalva River flows into the Usumacinta River. This confluence is at Tres Brazos,
Centla
Centla is a municipality in Tabasco in south-eastern Mexico
Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the ...
, and the two rivers form a large wetland region known as the
Pantanos de Centla. The pantanos (wetlands) are designated a
biosphere reserve; it contains , which makes it the largest protected wetland region in North and Central America and one of the top 15 wetlands (by size) in the world.
The total length of the river, including the Salinas, Chixoy, Negro rivers in Guatemala is approximately .
It is the only visible natural boundary separating the
Yucatán Peninsula from Mexico.
History
The river and its tributaries were important trade routes for the ancient
Maya civilization
The Maya civilization () of the Mesoamerican people is known by its ancient temples and glyphs. Its Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writing system in the pre-Columbian Americas. It is also noted for its art, ...
.
Yaxchilan and
Piedras Negras, two of the most powerful cities of the
Maya Classic Period, lie along its banks.
Before roads, such as the
Border Highway constructed by the Mexican Government in the early 1990s, penetrated the jungle, the river was the only means of travel in this region. Huge trunks of
hardwood
Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...
trees were floated downriver to the state of
Tabasco.
In the 1980s, many Guatemalan
refugee
A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution. s fled across the river to relative safety in Mexico. Other groups of refugees and Guatemalan guerrillas formed the so-called CPR communities in the jungle on the Guatemalan shores, hiding from the government until the peace accords of the nineties.
Frans and Trudi Blom first brought the idea of conservation to the watershed in the 1950s by proposing that a section of the Selva Lacandona be reserved for the
Lacandon Maya. Their idea was as much the preservation of culture as of habitat, and this principle – that indigenous integrity and habitat are inextricably linked in the watershed – should help guide any future conservation planning. Conservationists working in the region, such as Nacho March, Ron Nigh, Fernando Ochoa, Roan Balas McNab and others, have all acknowledged and upheld the principle in their work.
The first large
hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
project on the Usumacinta in ''"Boca del Cerro"'',
Tenosique, Tabasco, was proposed in the 1980s, and would have stretched all the way up the Pasion and Lacantun tributaries, flooding Piedras Negras and Yaxchilan, among other known and unknown Maya sites. At that time, the Guatemalan shore was held by rebels, whose presence discouraged
illegal logging
Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a ...
, poaching, and looting. It also discouraged dam engineers. In 1985 Jefferey Wilkerson's groundbreaking article in ''
National Geographic
''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widel ...
'' brought the river and its glories to widespread public consciousness for the first time. Additionally, the Guatemalan journalist
Victor Perera
Victor Perera was the first Governor of Northern Province and former Sri Lankan Inspector General of Police.
Police career
Perera joined the Sri Lanka Police Service in 1974 as an Assistant Superintendent of Police. Serving as the most sen ...
wrote about the river in ''The Nation'' and in his books, ''The Last Lords of Palenque'' and ''Unfinished Conquest'', and
Jan de Vos chronicled the region in his magisterial series of histories. Ultimately the hydro project failed under the weight of its own disincentives: siltation, geology, seismic activity, distance from markets, politics, etc., but the outcry from conservationists, archeologists, writers, and the public helped. It also established a pattern.
A thriving seasonal business in wilderness tourism began after the Wilkerson article. The river and its environs became a favorite destination of river travelers, amateur Mayanists and archaeologists, birders and wildlife tourists.
Carlos Salinas de Gortari proposed a smaller but still monumental hydro project in 1990, and completed the periferico surrounding the Montes Azules reserve. Articles in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' and op-ed pieces by
Homero Aridjis
Homero Aridjis (born April 6, 1940) is a Mexican poet, novelist, environmental activist, journalist and diplomat known for his rich imagination, poetry of lyrical beauty, and ethical independence.
Family and early life
Aridjis was born in Contep ...
suggesting a binational reserve for the area, helped defeat this incarnation of the idea.
In the late 1990s, a consortium of scientists, and government and non-governmental organizations met in
San Cristóbal de las Casas, under the auspices of the
Wildlife Conservation Society and the
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
, to identify the extent and types of habitat remaining the region, and to draw maps of the watershed. The conference addressed many of the jurisdictional and administrative questions that still bedevil the idea.
The
Zapatista Rebellion in 1994 and 1995, and the Guatemalan peace accords in 1996, reshaped the political lines in the watershed. As a direct consequence, and with the dramatic fall of the peso, bandits began robbing raft trips, ending wilderness travel in the corridor. One of the most promising tourist activities, with the least potential impact and the most possibility for helping conservation, archaeology, and cultural preservation, ended. Illegal activity of all types took over the corridor.
The Mexican army, which pervaded the Zapatista region, had little effect on river crime, and may have abetted it. In Guatemala, the absence of the expelled CPR communities, which had helped keep the selva safe and secure, now left it open to invasion, illegal logging, smuggling of immigrants, arms, artifacts, and drugs. (Many members of those communities now work as Defensores, but their numbers are few, and they are poorly paid.) The region continued in a state of low-grade terror and occupation for ten years.
See also
*
List of longest rivers of Mexico
Notes
References
*
*
External links
THE USUMACINTA RIVER: Building a Framework for Cooperation between Mexico and Guatemala
{{Authority control
Rivers of Guatemala
Geography of Mesoamerica
History of the Yucatán Peninsula
Geography of the Petén Department
International rivers of North America
Guatemala–Mexico border
Rivers of Chiapas
Rivers of Tabasco
Border rivers
Petén–Veracruz moist forests