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dam-l LS: President-Elect to Inherit Conflict over Dam
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Date: February/2000
Subject: President-Elect to Inherit Conflict over Dam
Source: IPS
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ENVIRONMENT-CHILE: President-Elect to Inherit Conflict over Dam
By Gustavo González
SANTIAGO, Feb 21 (IPS) - The dispute between environmentalists, indigenous
groups, business and
government officials over the construction of the huge Ralco dam and
hydroelectric plant is one of the
chief environmental conflicts to be left to Chilean president-elect Ricardo
Lagos.
When outgoing President Eduardo Frei steps down three weeks from now, he
will leave unsolved the problem of
the Spanish- Chilean company Endesa, which last Friday announced a
suspension of work on the controversial
dam.
In a decision which drew fire from environmentalists, Frei granted Ralco
the concession for supplying electricity in
January. But the Comptroller-General's office objected to the government's
decision.
It was the objections raised by that office which were cited by Endesa as
the reason for calling a halt to the works
on the dam being built on the upper Bio-bio river, Chile's largest, some
500 kms south of Santiago.
The suspension of the works will leave 1,400 workers out of a job, and
could lead to hikes in electricity rates if it
alters the government's energy plans for the year 2003.
Ralco has had a rocky history since 1994, when Endesa announced its
decision to build the dam, which has run up
against opposition from local environmental groups and by Pehuenche
families living along the upper Bio-bio.
Economy Minister Jorge Leiva and attorney Roberto Celedón, who represents
the Pehuenche families opposed to
the project, explained Monday that the objections raised by the
Comptroller- General's Office were due to several
pending legal proceedings.
At least three lawsuits have been filed against Endesa in Chilean courts,
while charges of ''ethno-cide'' were brought
against the mother company, Endesa-Spain, in 1999 in Madrid.
Frei, a Christian Democrat and a staunch supporter of the project, and
Lagos, a Socialist, both belong to the
governing Coalition for Democracy. But Lagos is expected to be more
receptive to the protests raised by
environmentalists and indigenous families.
The incumbent president insisted Sunday that Chile must reinforce its
energy policy based on hydroelectricity,
since this Southern Cone country of 14 million lacks its own reserves of
petroleum and natural gas.
Ralco is the biggest dam ever planned in Chile, with a 570- megawatt
potential which will increase the current offer
by 18 percent if it begins operating as scheduled in 2003.
The 155-metre high dam on the Bio-bio will create a reservoir with a
capacity of 1.2 billion cubic metres of water,
which will flood 3,467 hectares of land.
That area is now home to 91 Pehuenche families, 80 of whom have agreed to
swap their property for land
elsewhere offered by Endesa. But 11 families refuse to abandon their
ancestral territory.
The Bio-bio Action Group (GABB), a network of environmental and indigenous
groups and other non-governmental
organisations, protest that Ralco will commit ''eco-cide'' by destroying a
river system unique to that part of Chile.
The group also argues that the project is committing ''ethno- cide'' by
destroying the cultural habitat of the
Pehuenches - a branch of the Mapuche ethnic group - and accuses Endesa of
obtaining agreement on the land
swaps through deceptive means.
GABB leader Cristián Opazo said Endesa's announcement to freeze work on the
Ralco dam could be designed to
apply pressure on authorities to finally grant the company the necessary
concession.
Opazo accused Frei of failing to act in the dispute as president of Chile,
but as ''a businessman of the energy
sector.'' He argued that the best thing to do would be to put an end to
Ralco, which he termed ''a legally and
politically inviable project.''
Environmentalists argue that electricity generation can keep up with rising
demand in Chile by using thermal plants
fueled by natural gas, large quantities of which have been piped in from
neighbouring Argentina since 1998.
But in the government and armed forces there is resistance to depending on
imported fuel for energy, while Frei
says the problem with thermo-electricity is the high price of oil.
But critics of the project point out that hydroelectricity does not provide
a foolproof guarantee for national security
either, as demonstrated by the power shortage which affected Chile in late
1998 and early 1999 as a consequence
of a lengthy drought.
In the conflict over Ralco, concern over the environment and indigenous
rights have clashed with an energy policy
which according to ecologists must be revised and alternative sources of
power developed.
Environmentalists are also demanding a review of the concession for
exploiting rivers granted by the dictatorship of
Augusto Pinochet (1973-90) to Endesa in 1987, when the state-run company
was privatised.
In early 1999, Endesa-Spain acquired a controlling stake in the consortium
Enersis, of which Endesa forms a part.
(END/IPS/tra-so/ggr/sw/00)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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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