Dozens of Indigenous Q'eqchi Mayans came from several towns along the Cahabon River...to the capital Monday, to protest against hydroelectric projects carried out by the Spanish group Cobra, owned by Real Madrid's President Florentino Perez...[Dozens] of activists demanded that the courts respect the community’s right to consultation prior to the construction of the projects and that authorities investigate Perez.

Indigenous leader Bernardo Caal Xol told reporters that the firm has left about 50 communities without water...Guatemalan firm Oxec, S.A. owns the hydroelectric dams Oxec and Oxec II, which is funded by investments from Panama-Based Energy Resources Capital Corp. The works are carried out by the Spanish company Grupo Cobra, owned by Florentino Perez, the president of Spanish soccer giant Real Madrid...

Guatemala's' Supreme Court suspended the Oxec I and Oxec II projects on Jan. 17, because local communities had not been previously consulted, and the ruling was upheld again Friday by the Constitutional Court. However, construction has not stopped, said Caal Xol...The final project is expected to...deeply [affect] the lives of 30,000 Q'eqchi people.