A David and Goliath struggle is playing out in the upper reaches of Chile's Biobφo River, where a small but determined group of indigenous Pehuenche people are standing up to Empresa Nacional de Electricidad (ENDESA), a huge Chilean utility company. On July 30, over 100 Pehuenche protesters and their supporters attempted to block construction of the $500 million Ralco dam by forming a human chain to stop work on the road to the dam site. The protest heated up when local police and a riot squad tried to disperse the crowd with tear gas. The protesters threw the canisters back at the police and four people were arrested. The protesters, including Cristian Opaso of the Grupo de Acci≤n por el Biobφo (GABB) and Augustin Correa, a Pehuenche activist, were charged with public disorder.
The unrest at the dam site forced ENDESA and government officials to agree to meet with people affected by the development. As a result, Planning Minister German Quintana ordered ENDESA to stop further work at the construction site until the dispute was resolved. CONADI, the governmental agency responsible for protecting Chile's indigenous population, had earlier petitioned ENDESA to suspend all work in the area, but the utility company refused and construction continued. In light of this, 30 Pehuenche protesters decided to continue to guard the bridge leading to the dam site.
According to Chile's 1993 Indigenous Law, ENDESA cannot begin construction without written consent from the 400 Pehuenche who would be resettled to fill the dam's 13 square-mile reservoir. The upper Biobφo was formally declared an indigenous area in March 1997. The law states that indigenous land cannot be sold, only traded, and that the families involved must all agree to the move. As with many development projects, the community is divided over the issue. There are those who support the project, believing it will improve their situation, while others remain steadfastly opposed. Nine families have said they will never trade their land for any price. Nicolasa Quintremßn, whose family has owned and lived on the same land for 500 years says, "The only way I'll leave here is dead."
United Press International (UPI) reported on an internal memo by CONADI revealing that some of the families may have been coerced by ENDESA into signing the contracts. The UPI story alleges that ENDESA told the families that, because the company had already received all needed permits, they had no choice but to sign. A Pehuenche man who signed told CONADI representatives, "We don't have any alternative. They are going to flood our land and we are not fish."
On the eve of a critical CONADI vote concerning the Ralco dam, Chilean President Eduardo Frei fired Domingo Namuncura, the head of CONADI. The vote concerned the legality of land swap contracts which ENDESA had negotiated with the Peheunche. Namuncura concluded that the contracts had been unfairly negotiated and that the land offered to the Pehuenche would not sustain their culture and lifestyle. His vote, when added to that of the eight indigenous people on the CONADI council, would have torpedoed the project.
In his resignation letter to President Frei, Namuncura wrote, "CONADI's review of the land swap contracts, in strict accordance with the Indigenous Law and our own regulations, found that the contracts could not be approved because they did not comply with a series of requirements regarding their conception and execution. The Indigenous Law demands respect for indigenous culture. Indigenous lands are to be protected so that they are used appropriately and so that ecological balances are maintained. There is no doubt that the Ralco dam project will have a tremendous impact on the indigenous people living there."
President Frei, a staunch supporter of the project and a hydraulic engineer, could not have expected the rally of support for the Pehuenches that followed. Marching from Santiago to Valparaiso, 70 Mapuches (Chile's largest indigenous group) insisted that the country's Human Rights Commission travel to the Upper Biobφo and assess the situation. The Communist Party of Chile has also pledged its support.
Aside from displacing 600 people, the 570 megawatt Ralco dam and its reservoir will threaten at least 50 species of mammals and aquatic life dependent on the river; increase access to logging; subject 1,400 hectares of denuded reservoir banks to erosion and landslides; decrease downstream flow during low-water periods; and seriously impact downstream aquatic life and irrigation practices. Chances are, ENDESA won't give up the fight easily. The company and its shareholders have much to gain from this project. A representative of ENDESA told protesters, "We have until the year 2002 [the year the reservoir would fill] to solve the issue of the lands of the Pehuenche."
The Indigenous Law and the determination of some Pehuenches are not ENDESA's only obstacles. A lawsuit against ENDESA has been filed at the Sixth Civil Court in Santiago. The plaintiffs claim the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the Ralco dam project should be declared null and void because the procedure for implementing the EIA did not comply with established guidelines. The lawsuit against ENDESA is also supported by three members of the Parliament.
This is not the first struggle for land rights faced by the Pehuenche. The Pehuenches are descendants of the mounted warriors who held back Spanish conquest for 200 years. The river and the land are interwoven into their cultural beliefs. The Pehuenche read and understand the language of the river. The pi±on pines and the valley have been at the core of their spiritual and physical home for centuries.
To address the issue, fax your letters of protest to Chilean President Eduardo Frei at +56-2-690-4020; fax to Empresa Nacional de Electricidad (ENDESA) at +56-2-635-4720. For more information, contact Aleta Brown at International Rivers Network, Berkeley, CA; (510) 848-1155; aleta@irn.org. Also contact Juan Pablo Orrego or Cristian Opaso, Grupo de Accion por el Biobio (GABB), Santiago, Chili; +56-2-737-1420; gabb@reuna.cl. .
Aleta Brown works closely with the Biobφo campaign through the International Rivers Network. Her article originally appeared in the August issue of World Rivers Review.