ANI or DINA? Environmental organizations protest espionage and infiltration by Chilean Intelligence Agency

ENVIROS DETECT HYPOCRISY IN CONAMA’S SUPPORT OF ANI INVESTIGATION

(Dec. 13, 2007) Leaders of the Chilean environmental movement spoke out Wednesday against the National Environmental Commission’s (CONAMA) support of the government’s monitoring of environmental NGO campaigns. This comes after the Chilean daily La Tercera disclosed last Friday that Chile’s National Intelligence Agency (ANI) has increased oversight of environmental campaigns against three of the country’s most controversial environmental undertakings – the Aysén dam, the Pascua Lama gold mine, and Celulosa Arauco’s (CELCO) proposed waste duct into the sea.

(MICHELE BACHELET & PETER MUNK: Until we hear otherwise, we can infer that Michele Bachelet holds the same opinion of Environmental NGOs as Peter Munk, Chairman of the Barrick Gold Corporation. They both attended the Davos Conference in Switzerland where Chairman Munk had this to say: Barrick Gold Chairman, Peter Munk complains rogue Environmental NGOs are Destroying the Mining Industry Apparently Bachelet was listening and took action?)

Various environmental activists have claimed that ANI’s methods include unnecessary measures like espionage and infiltration (ST, Dec. 10, 11). They are particularly upset by CONAMA’s support of the ANI investigation.

Director of Greenpeace Chile, Rodrigo Hererra, commented on CONAMA’s position Wednesday. “ANI’s report has very grave implications for freedom of expression in the environmentalist movement,” he told the Santiago Times. “I absolutely reject CONAMA’s support of their investigation. It is clear that CONAMA has no idea what methods the ANI is using.”

Lucio Cuenca, director of the Latin American Observatory on Environmental Conflicts (Olca), said that his organization – which campaigns against the Pascua Lama gold mine among other things – has been monitored by ANI since 2005 and has had negative experience with ANI’s questionable investigation tactics.

“It is legitimate within a democracy for the government to gather information on organizations,” he said. “It is not legitimate to deny people their liberty, intimidate them, and intervene in their civic participation as ANI has done.”

Cuenca said he was dissatisfied, though not entirely surprised, that CONAMA supports ANI’s investigation. He called on CONAMA to better fulfill its role as a facilitator of public opinion in projects affecting the environment.

CONAMA Director Ana Lya Uriarte has defended the ANI investigation. Her spokesperson, Jaime Ugalde, said, “It is necessary that in the democratic system that there exist investigation into the operations of organizations. But that does not necessarily imply infiltration or unnecessary persecution of said organizations.”

When asked about ANI’s supposed intimidation tactics, Ugalde said, “CONAMA does not have information that infiltration is one of the methods that ANI is employing. But if it is, then that is an issue that has to do with security, and should be left to the Ministry of the Interior. CONAMA does not have an opinion (on these allegations).”

CONAMA’s support of the investigation comes as the organization aims encourage more civic participation in its Environmental Impact Evaluation System (SEIA).

Urirate has launched a series of workshops set to last four months with the intention of surveying Chileans’ perception of the SEIA. Preliminary findings show that the general public believes there is not enough consideration of public opinion in CONAMA’s evaluation processes.

Uriarte says the survey of public opinion of the SEIA is part of a larger effort to restructure CONAMA to incorporate more avenues for the public to influence new projects.

But environmentalists are still dubious of CONAMA’s commitment to public participation. As Cuenca said, “CONAMA’s role should be to support free expression and ensure that people have all the information necessary to take part in the environmental impact evaluation process. But they do not do that. Instead, CONAMA misinforms the public by withholding necessary information on a given project.”

(This type of duplicity and corruption is characteristic of Chile and goes back a least a decade or more: Endesa Strategy & Tactics I – Revisiting the Ralco & Pangue Hydroelectric Projects on the Rio Bio Bio )

Here is the full article.

Legislators angered by Chile Intelligence Agency monitoring of environmental organizations - investigation demanded

CHILE LEGISLATORS ANGERED BY INTELLIGENCE MONITORING OF GREEN NGOs

“Actions Like This Cannot Be Allowed To Happen Here”

(Dec. 14, 2007) Party for Democracy (PPD) Dep. Guido Girardi said Thursday that the Chamber of Deputies’ Natural Resources Commission will meet next Tuesday to discuss reports that Chile’s National Intelligence Agency (ANI) has increased its monitoring of environmental NGOs. This news comes as Chilean environmentalists and politicians continue to express their concern over the Agency’s increasingly draconian tactics.

According to a report published last week by La Tercera, the ANI is gathering information on how environmental NGOs function, who their principal members are, who provides them with funding, and how they respond to environmental issues nationwide. At least three ANI employees, including a former official from Chile’s National Environmental Commission (CONAMA), are known to be working full time on these issues. (ST, Dec 10.)

The La Tercera report specified that campaigns against the controversial Aysen dam project, the transnational Pascua Lama mining project, and Celulosa Arauco’s (CELCO) waste duct are receiving the greatest attention by the state’s intelligence officers.

“On one hand, this news surprises me. On the other hand, it really does not. There are economic powers that clearly do not want pro-environmental organizations to thrive,” Girardi told the Santiago Times. “For those economic organizations, the environmental movement does represent a threat to national security.”

(NGO's were at the top of Barrick Gold Corporation's agenda at the 2007 Davos Conference in Switzerland, a conference frequented by Michele Bachelet: Barrick Gold Chairman, Peter Munk complains rogue Environmental NGOs are Destroying the Mining Industry )

“In next Tuesday’s meeting of the Chamber of Deputies’ Natural Resources Commission, I am going to introduce a motion to respond to this news. It is very probable that we demand that the Interior Ministry respond to these report. We need answers from them,” he said.

“In the Commission, we usually share the same thinking, although we come from different political parties. We are all concerned about the environment. In a situation like this, when there is something as extreme as espionage, I do not think that anyone in the Commission is going to vote against taking action…we recognize that actions like this (espionage) cannot be allowed to happen in Chile.”

Independent Democratic Union (UDI) Dep. Alejandro García-Huidobro, another member of the Natural Resources Commission, echoed Girardi’s comments.

“Countries definitely need to have their intelligence services. But, this does not mean that they can interfere in the work of NGOs which clearly have the right to defend the environment,” he said. “This is a very shameful situation. We have made such progress in our democracy and freedom of expression, and I think that it is a shame that this is happening. Intelligence should be more so focused on combating problems like delinquency.”

Environmental activists reported this week that ANI’s methods include espionage and infiltration (ST, Dec. 10, 11). Activists are particularly upset by CONAMA’s support of the ANI investigations.

(Not unexpected, as the Chilean government's lack of concern for the environment and ardent support of the foreign owned extraction industry is notorious: Chile's Government fines itself for polluting the environment )

Greenpeace Chile director Rodrigo Hererra commented on CONAMA’s position Wednesday. “The report about ANI has very serious implications for freedom of expression in the environmentalist movement,” he told the Santiago Times. “I absolutely reject CONAMA’s support of their investigation. It is clear that CONAMA has no idea what methods the ANI is using.”

Lucio Cuenca, director of the Latin American Observatory on Environmental Conflicts (Olca), said his organization – which campaigns against the Pascua Lama gold mine among other things – has been monitored by ANI since 2005 and has had negative experience with ANI’s questionable investigation tactics.

“It is legitimate within a democracy for the government to gather information on organizations,” he said. “It is not legitimate to deny people their liberty, intimidate them, and intervene in their civic participation as ANI has done.”

Cuenca said he was dissatisfied, though not entirely surprised, that CONAMA supports ANI’s investigation. He called on CONAMA to better fulfill its role as a facilitator of public opinion in projects affecting the environment. (ST, Dec. 13)

In spite of repeated phone calls and e-mails from the Santiago Times, the ANI declined to comment on these allegations and delayed a requested interview with ANI director Gustavo Villalobos until sometime next year.

Here is the full article.

Chile’s National Environmental Commission (CONAMA) launches new website that contains detailed information about Chile’s most egregious polluters.

(Nov. 30, 2007) Chile’s National Environmental Commission (CONAMA) launched Thursday a new website that contains detailed information about Chile’s most egregious polluters. According to CONAMA, the webpage is intended to both improve transparency and increase citizens’ awareness about environmental issues.

The website, dubbed Emissions Register and Contaminants Transference (RETC), will contain profiles of more than 5,000 businesses based on information from 2005 to the present. Each profile will include details of the companies’ emissions records, incidents of chemical or other potentially hazardous leaks, and energy efficiency records. Additionally, the web site will include a forum where citizens can ask follow-up questions regarding the posted information.

CONAMA officials say that the site’s information, available only in Spanish, will be complied from other governmental organizations. For example, emissions information will come from the Health Ministry, National Statistics Institute (INE), the Santiago Metropolitan Region Sanitation Authority, and the Inter-ministerial Secretariat of Transportation Planning (SECTRA). Still, officials say that the data will not be fully available until mid December.

CONAMA also said the website has thus far received more than US$1 million in financing from a variety of domestic and international organizations, but did not disclose the names of specific donors.

Environmental NGOs reacted favorably to the creation of this new webpage, which they say could revolutionize citizen’s knowledge about Chile’s environment.

“This is the tip of the iceberg in terms of understanding the country’s environmental conditions. The fact that we now have access to this information allows us to become far more familiar with the country’s reality,” said Samuel Leiva, a Greenpeace Chile representative. “We will also be able to see if companies improve or worsen their records.” Leiva said not only Chile’s government, but NGOs and common Chilean citizens will now be able to monitor business practices.

For more information about the new website: http://www.retc.cl

Here is the full article.