Senahu

Senahú is a municipality in the department of Alta Verapaz, in the Republic of Guatemala and that belongs to the commercial and industrial region known as Franja Transversal del Norte. Originally it was called "San Antonio Senahú"..

Political division

The municipality has one town —the municipal seat—, forty-one hamlets and one hundred and twenty-seven communities.

Physical geography

The approximate extension of this municipality in the department of Alta Verapaz is 336 km², with a population of 62,101 inhabitants in 2007.

Climate

The municipal seat of Senahú has a tropical climate (Köppen classification: Af).

Average Senahú climate parameters
Month	Ene.	Feb.	Mar.	Open up.	May.	Jun.	Jul.	Ago.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Average temperature (°C)	19.3	20.3	21.6	22.8	23.2	23.0	22.6	22.7	22.7	21.7	20.6	19.8	21.7
Total precipitation (mm)	141	110	106	142	313	621	691	546	535	395	207	138	3945
Source: Climate-Data.org

Geographic location

Senahú is located in the department of Alta Verapaz and its boundaries are:

• North: Cahabón and Lanquín, municipalities of the department of Alta Verapaz
• South: Panzós and Tucurú, municipalities of Alta Verapaz
• This: El Estor, municipality of the department of Izabal
• West: Tucurú and San Pedro Carchá, municipalities of the department of Alta Verapaz

	North: Cahabón Lanquin
West: Tucurú San Pedro Carchá		This: The Estor
	South: Panzós Tucurú

Municipal government

Municipalities are regulated by various laws of the Republic, which establish their form of organization, matters relating to the conformation of their administrative bodies and the taxes allocated to them. Although they are autonomous entities, they are subject to national legislation. The main laws that govern municipalities in Guatemala since 1985 are:

The government of the municipalities of Guatemala is in charge of a Municipal Council while the municipal code —which has the character of ordinary law and contains provisions that apply to all municipalities in Guatemala— establishes that «the municipal council is the superior collegiate body for deliberation and decision-making on municipal affairs […] and has its headquarters in the district of the municipal seat”. Finally, article 33 of the aforementioned code establishes that "[t]he exercise of municipal government corresponds exclusively to the municipal council".

The municipal council is made up of the mayor, trustees and councilors, directly elected by universal and secret suffrage for a period of four years, with the possibility of being reelected.

There are also Auxiliary Mayor's Offices, Community Development Committees (COCODE), the Municipal Development Committee (COMUDE), cultural associations and work commissions. The auxiliary mayors are elected by the communities according to their principles, values, procedures and traditions, they meet with the municipal mayor on the first Sunday of each month. The Community Development Committees and the Municipal Development Council have the function of organizing and facilitating the participation of the communities, prioritizing needs and problems.

History

On March 13, 1869, it was elevated to a municipality by Government Agreement.

Northern Transversal Strip

Senahú

Location of Senahú in the Northern Transversal Strip

After the overthrow of President Jacobo Árbenz in 1954, the liberationist government led by Carlos Castillo Armas created the Economic Planning Council (CNPE), which began to use free market strategies, advised by the World Bank and the Administration International Cooperation (ICA) of the United States government. The CNPE and the ICA created the General Directorate of Agrarian Affairs (DGAA) which was in charge of dismantling the effects of Decree 900 of the government of Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán. The DGAA It was in charge of the geographical strip that adjoined the departmental limit of Petén and the borders of Belize, Honduras and Mexico, and which would eventually be called Franja Transversal del Norte (FTN).

In the beginning, the importance of the region was in the cattle ranch, the exploitation of precious wood for export and the archaeological wealth. Timber contracts were given to transnational companies, such as the Murphy Pacific Corporation of California, which invested 30 million dollars for the colonization of southern Petén and Alta Verapaz, and formed the Compañía Impulsadora del Norte, S.A. The colonization of the area was done through a process by which land in inhospitable areas of the FTN was granted to peasants.

In 1962, the DGAA became the National Institute of Agrarian Transformation (INTA), by Decree 1551 that created the Agrarian Transformation Law. In 1964, INTA defined the geography of the FTN as the northern part of the departments of Huehuetenango, Quiché, Alta Verapaz and Izabal and that same year priests of the Maryknoll order and the Order of the Sacred Heart began the first colonization process, together with INTA, taking residents from Huehuetenango to the Ixcán sector in Quiché.

The Northern Transversal Strip was officially created during the government of General Carlos Arana Osorio in 1970, through Decree 60-70 in the Congress of the Republic, for the establishment of agrarian development. Senior Guatemalan officials then became large landowners and investors taking advantage of policies for the transfer of peasants, access to privileged information, expansion of public credit and large development projects; the army officers formed the Army Bank to manage their investments.

Production

Their assets are made up of large coffee and other agricultural product farms that were formed after the expropriations of indigenous communal lands during the government of General Justo Rufino Barrios. Among its natural resources are the river of the Trece Aguas farm, the Sereizi waterfalls and a viewpoint in the General Cemetery. The ruins of Chijolom and Providencia are also famous. Among its crafts are fabrics, ceramics, basketry, rigging, masks, musical instruments, palm mats, candles, tule objects and fireworks.

Customs and traditions

Headline Party

It celebrates its main festival from June 8 to 13 in honor of San Antonio.