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dam-l STRONG PEHUENCHE REJECTION OF RALCO
CHIP News for August 13, 1998
>SOURCE: EL MERCURIO
>SOURCE: LA TERCERA
> -- STRONG PEHUENCHE REJECTION OF RALCO. Proponents
>and opponents of Endesa's Ralco hydroelectric project held a round
>table discussion Wednesday, but made no progress in resolving
>opposing positions on the issue.
> The nine Pehuenche families who have not signed land
>barter contracts with energy company Endesa insisted their land
>will not be traded for any price and demanded that the
>government declare Ralco the "Upper Bio Bio Indigenous
>Development Area" in an effort to improve their quality of life and
>to show respect their culture and traditions.
> The US$500 million Ralco project has met heated
>controversy since its inception five years ago. It will flood 1,500
>hectares of Pehuenche ancestral lands and have negative effects
>on the river's ecosystem. Proponents argue that Chile's energy
>needs are increasing and the construction of this dam is inevitable.
> Planning Minister German Quintana said he reached an
>agreement with the nine families to continue prohibiting further
>construction at the dam site. Thirty Pehuenche are still guarding
>the Nireco bridge, and only allow private cars through to the
>construction site.
> Quintana also reached an agreement with the 83 families
>who have signed land barter contracts with Endesa. One of the
>plots Endesa had originally offered, El Huachi, is not fit for
>construction of houses, and the Pehuenche will now search for an
>area where they can continue with their traditional activities.
> Representatives of the Pehuenche families who will live
>beside the dam also attended the meeting. Quintana said most
>uncertainty comes from access to construction jobs, to basic
>housing services, and to health care. He said he will send a
>proposal to Endesa to make these improvements.
> In related news, the 70 Mapuche who marched from
>Santiago to Valparaiso, arrived Wednesday at the Congress
>building to submit a letter to the Chamber of Deputies Human
>Rights Commission. The deputies accepted the Mapuche's
>invitation to go to the south and analyze the situation of the
>indigenous.
Chile Information Project
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Aleta Brown
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International Rivers Network
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email: aleta@irn.org
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