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dam-l LS: Protesters Again Block Ralco Hydroproject
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CHIP NEWS
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Date: May 24, 1999
Subject: Protesters Again Block Ralco Hydroproject
Sources: El Mercurio, La Tercera
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PROTESTERS AGAIN BLOCK RALCO HYDRO
PROJECT
For several hours on Saturday, 21 Pehuenche indigenous
people and other protesters stopped construction on the
giant Ralco hydroelectric project by blocking an access road
near the upper Bio Bio River south of Los Angeles in
southern Region VIII. Although a large contingent of special
police forces arrived at the site, the so- called "takers"
carried out what they termed a "tactical withdrawal," leaving
police the job of clearing the road of logs and other
materials.
It was the same site where this past February nine
Carabineros and four protesters were injured and 19 were
arrested, including a Spaniard and a U.S. citizen who were
later deported. Led by the Kine Newen Coordinating
Committee of Organizations for the Defense of Life in the
Upper Bio Bio, the protesters say the hydroelectric project,
which will create a reservoir holding more than 1 billion cubic
feet of water and displace 91 families, is illegal under Chile's
Indigenous Law No. 9,253.
According to Ignacio Swett, spokesman for national power
generating company and project developer Endesa, the
Ralco project is continuing on schedule and will open in
2002 with a production capacity of 570 megawatts. It will
cost some US$500 million.
Coordinating committee spokesperson said the group would
undertake larger and more frequent protests until the Endesa
project is halted and Pehuenche native rights are respected.
*Chile Information Project*
*The End*
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Monti Aguirre
Latin American Campaigns
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way
Berkeley, CA. 94703 USA
Phone: 510 . 848.11.55 and 707 . 591 .91.49
Fax: 510 . 848.10.08
e-mail: monti @irn.org
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