Mapuche Conflict - Chile Government Flip Flops as Human Rights Abuses Continue

Despite the government’s professed openness to resolving the Mapuche conflict, human rights abuses against indigenous people continue in Chile.

Last week JosÈ Aylwin, co-director of the Observatory for Indigenous Rights (ODPI) and son of former president Patricio Aylwin, submitted a scathing letter to Interior Minister PÈrez Yoma detailing serious human rights abuses committed by the Carabineros police force against nine Mapuche detainees in the Region IX city of Ercilla. Aylwin’s letter, based on testimonies from the nine detainees, recounts in detail the police tactics he says “can be qualified as torture.”

The nine men were arrested early this month during a two-day public festival celebrating the anniversary of the city of Ercilla. Carabineros apprehended the men individually, claiming they were causing a disturbance. Aylwin cites witnesses who attest that the festival was a peaceful gathering with no motive of political or social agitation. The nine men maintain they were attending the festival for celebratory purposes only. They are now being held at the Collipulli commissioner’s office under charges of public disorder and attacking police officers.

Aylwin claims the arrests were “arbitrary detentions” and that Carabineros acted “without these men having done anything to warrant apprehension.” The police did not ask for identification when arresting the men nor did they offer reasons for the apprehension.

Even more disturbing, however, is the physical abuse endured by the Ercilla detainees. Four of the men, upon being taken to the commissioner’s office, were tied to posts and left there more than 13 hours in police custody while being interrogated and beaten by Carabineros. The report goes on to describe one detainee who had to get stitches on his head after a police officer beat him with the butt end of a gun.

In the letter, Aylwin asks PÈrez Yoma to investigate the Carabineros’ treatment of these and other Mapuche prisoners. He also sent a copy to Rodolfo Stavenhagen, special relater to the United Nations for human rights and indigenous liberties. Stavenhagen has been outspoken against the Chilean government’s indigenous rights policies.

In the meantime, Carabineros have upped police presence in this northern district of Region IX. Residents of Temucuicui, a Mapuche town located 12 kilometers from Ercilla, released a public declaration Tuesday describing a massive influx of special police forces in their small community of 120 families.
Temucuicui has been a focal point for conflict between Mapuche and the police forces that regularly patrol the area. Tuesday’s declaration denounces the unnecessary militarization of this small settlement, including the presence of helicopters, tanks, air planes, and an increased force of police officers decked in riot gear.

As human rights abuses continue in Ercilla, the Chilean government is still vacillating on the issue of how to resolve indigenous conflict. Government spokesperson Francisco Vidal said this week that Chile is open to visits from foreign observers to intervene in the Mapuche conflict. His comment puts an end to the government’s ongoing debate on the matter.

Here is the full article.

Deal Reached for Jailed Chilean Activist

SANTIAGO, CHILE — The Chilean government defended its decision Tuesday to back a church-brokered agreement that ended a months-long hunger strike by a jailed Indian-rights activist.

A top official in the office of President Michelle Bachelet said Patricia Troncoso was not granted a pardon and would serve out her 10-year sentence -- albeit in a work camp and not in a prison, and with weekend leaves.

"She obtained nothing more than the law permitted," Jose Antonio Viera-Gallo, general secretary to the presidency, told a radio station here.

Troncoso has served about half her sentence under anti-terrorism laws for setting fire to a forestry plot -- a charge she denied. The arson was one of many such attacks by Mapuche Indian militants against corporate targets in a low-level conflict that has raised tensions in southern Chile, the Mapuche ancestral homeland.

The hunger strike has focused attention on the plight of the Mapuche minority. Activists say that despite Chile's economic growth, the Indians have been left largely landless, impoverished and victims of police repression.

(For more on this see: Mapuche Struggles In Chile)

The government rejected Troncoso's original demands, including the release of Mapuche "political prisoners" and the "demilitarization" of Mapuche zones.

Under the deal, Troncoso, who is not a Mapuche, will serve out the remaining five years of her sentence in a police work camp and will be allowed to go home on weekends. Two imprisoned Mapuche militants received similar benefits as part of the pact worked out with the help of a Roman Catholic bishop.

In addition, Bachelet named a new commissioner charged with finding ways to improve life for Chile's Indian minority. Census figures show that less than 5% of the nation's residents describe themselves as indigenous.

The deal immediately came under attack from the conservative opposition to Bachelet, who heads the governing center-left coalition.

"You can't pretend the law applies in some parts of the country and not in other parts," Sen. Jovino Novoa said here in the capital, calling the pact a reward for violence.

(Instead of the typical reward for pollution: Chile's Government fines itself for polluting the environment , Legislators outraged with Chile’s main copper company pollution, Revisiting the Valdivia CELCO industrial spill of 2005 )

Troncoso, 38, ended her fast Monday, 111 days after she began taking only liquids. She is being held at a hospital in the city of Chillan, 240 miles south of Santiago.

Last week, police doctors fearing for her life began providing her with intravenous nutrients. Friends and her father described Troncoso as weak but lucid.

Here is the full article.

Australia will issue its first formal apology to its indigenous people next month - help close 17 year life expectancy gap

CANBERRA, Australia - Australia will issue its first formal apology to its indigenous people next month, the government announced Wednesday, a milestone that could ease tensions with a minority whose mixed-blood children were once taken away on the premise that their race was doomed.

The Feb. 13 apology to the so-called "stolen generations" of Aborigines will be the first item of business for the new Parliament, Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin said. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, whose Labor Party won November elections, had promised to push for an apology, an issue that has divided Australians for a decade,

"The apology will be made on behalf of the Australian government and does not attribute guilt to the current generation of Australian people," Macklin said in a statement.

Rudd has refused demands from some Aboriginal leaders to pay compensation for the suffering of broken families. Activist Michael Mansell, who is legal director of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Center, has urged the government to set up an $882 million compensation fund.

Macklin did not mention compensation Wednesday. But she said she sought broad input on the wording of the apology, which she hoped would signal the beginning of a new relationship between Australia and its original inhabitants, who number about 450,000 among a population of 21 million. Aborigines are the poorest ethnic group in Australia and are most likely to be jailed, unemployed and illiterate.

"Once we establish this respect, the government can work with indigenous communities to improve services aimed at closing the 17-year life expectancy gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians," she said.

Christine King of the Stolen Generations Alliance, one of the key indigenous groups the government has consulted in crafting the apology, said she was "overwhelmed" that a date had finally been set.

"Older people thought they would never live to see this day," King said through tears. "It's very emotional for me and it's very important."

Australia has had a decade-long debate about how best to acknowledge Aborigines who were affected by a string of 20th century policies that separated mixed-blood Aboriginal children from their families — the cohort frequently referred to as Australia's stolen generation.

From 1910 until the 1970s, around 100,000 mostly mixed-blood Aboriginal children were taken from their parents under state and federal laws based on a premise that Aborigines were a doomed race and saving the children was a humane alternative.

A national inquiry in 1997 found that many children taken from their families suffered long-term psychological effects stemming from the loss of family and culture.

The inquiry recommended that state and federal authorities apologize and compensate those removed from their families. But then-Prime Minister John Howard steadfastly refused to do either, saying his government should not be held responsible for the policies of former officials.

Barbara Livesey, chief executive of Reconciliation Australia, a government-commissioned agency tasked with bringing black and white Australians together, said the apology on the day after Parliament resumes for the first time since the November elections would be historic.

"It's a moment that all Australians should feel incredibly proud of, that we're recognizing the mistakes of the past," she said.

But opposition leader Brendan Nelson, whose conservative Liberal Party was thrown out of office in November after almost 12 years in power, questioned whether the apology deserved to be the new government's first item of business.

Here is the full article.

Mapuche Woman Ends 110 Day Hunger Strike - Chile Government Agrees to Create Commission for Indigenous Rights - Mapuche Plan Marches

TEMUCUICUI, Chile, Jan 29 - Chile's Mapuche Indians, the fierce opponents of Spanish conquerors five centuries ago, have renewed their ancestral land demands in a series of clashes with police and private businesses.

Groups of the Mapuche, which means "Earth People" in the Mapudungun tongue, have occupied and burned forestry and farming lands in recent weeks and cut off highways to demand territories they say were stolen from them over the past 500 years.

One Mapuche student was shot dead in a clash with police in southern Chile earlier this month. His funeral was attended by angry youths bearing long sticks called chueca, a traditional weapon of Chile's largest indigenous group.

Faced by mounting protests and a well publicized hunger strike by a jailed indigenous rights activist, Chile's government agreed on Monday to create a high commission for indigenous rights.

The activist, 38-year-old Patricia Troncoso, then ended the 110-day hunger strike during which she lost 26 kg (57 pounds) and was kept alive by intravenous drip.

But the Mapuche want more than a rights commission and are demanding the return of lands taken from them by decrees from the colonial conquests to the 1973-1990 dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

As Chile's economy booms, they accuse the center-left government of protecting corporate interests and repressing their demands with hard-handed tactics like the ones used by Pinochet's police 20 years ago.

"For us there has been no change since democracy started and the military dictatorship ended," said Jorge Huenchullan, a spokesman for the Mapuche in Temucuicui, some 650 kilometers (400 miles) south of the capital Santiago.

Temucuicui is a small settlement with only scattered, rustic buildings and a small school, but it is the focal point for a conflict between the Mapuche and police that constantly patrol its forested hillsides and wheat fields.

"The biggest (police) raids, the most violent, have occurred during the democracy," Huenchullan said.

RESISTANCE

The Mapuche were famed for their resistance of Spanish conquerors and it was a young Mapuche chief, Lautaro, who captured and executed Pedro de Valdivia, Spain's royal governor of Chile, after the Battle of Tucapel in late 1553.

While no one is calling for armed rebellion now, Church leaders and international human rights groups warn the current conflict will escalate unless the government addresses the land issue.

"Lets hope the Commission can advance in resolving the fundamental issues of this conflict for Chilean society as a whole," said Bishop Alejandro Goic, president of the Episcopal Conference of the Roman Catholic Church.

Marches are planned this week in Santiago to support the Mapuche cause and protest the jailing of four Mapuche activists and Troncoso under a Pinochet-era anti-terrorism law.

The five were all sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2002 for setting fire to private lands.

The government insists Troncoso and the others jailed with her are not political prisoners, just people who committed crimes when they burned fields and forests, and business groups want a firmer government hand in dealing with the protests.

"This cannot be tolerated and the government must enforce the law. The guilty must be punished by the justice system," said Fernando Leniz, president of Corma, an industry group of Chile's major forestry companies.

In Temucuicui, where police patrol an area that is home to 120 Mapuche families laying claim to 600 hectares of lands, local leaders call the forestry companies "colonists," like the ones who took their lands five centuries ago.

"The colonists must go, there is no other way," said Huenchullan, the Mapuche spokesman. "We are going to defend our Mapuche rights on the lands that belong to us ... We are decided and will not cede ground."

Here is the full article.

Indigenous rights verses corporate ‘free trade’ in South America

Indigenous rights renewal in Latin America flourishes in some quarters, but there are many reminders of the continued misery of first peoples at the hands of propertied and commercial classes.

In Brazil, especially in Mato Grosso do Sul, murders of indigenous people increased 58 percent last year over 2006, according to Catholic missionaries. They said the cause was confinement, not enough land for Guarani people “to sustain their traditions.” In the Dourados reserve, 12,000 people live on less than 7,000 acres.

The hunger strike of indigenous prisoner Patricia Tronoso in Chile signals oppression. As of Jan. 25, she had fasted 106 days and was near death. She and four other Mapuche activists were sentenced to ten years in jail for allegedly burning company-owned forests; they began fasting Oct. 10. They were protesting mistreatment of other indigenous prisoners and supporting the Mapuche campaign for return of land stolen by corporations. Her companions ended their fasts several weeks ago.

Critics accuse the Chilean government of complicity with landowners in relying on Pinochet-era antiterrorist laws to suppress Mapuche demands.

Indigenous grief is often tied to environmental abuse. Interviewed by journalist Greg Palast, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa detailed his recent trip into the Amazonian jungle to investigate an outburst of cancer among indigenous children living in areas abandoned by foreign oil corporations. Sink holes filled with oil sludge dot nearby forests. A community leader told Correa that his son’s vomiting of blood and subsequent death were related to immersion in contaminated water.

In Bolivia, President Evo Morales last week demanded that a group of exploitative landowners in the drought-stricken Chaco region provide land for 1,000 enslaved Guarani families with neither income nor land. He threatened the landowners with expropriation.

The unprecedented rise of Morales, an indigenous labor leader, to Bolivia’s presidency is taken by many as a harbinger of a new day for Latin America’s indigenous people. They take hope from his government’s progress toward public control over hydrocarbon resources and a proposed new constitution protective of indigenous rights.

A Jan. 15-17 international conference in La Paz, attended by indigenous people from 11 countries, heaped praise on “brother President Evo Morales” for “standing up to “the fascism of the right,” as one speaker put it. Another inveighed against “homogeneous societies” that make “regional, environmental, and cultural difference invisible.” A final conference declaration called for “inclusion and construction of multinational states.”

But a handful of Bolivian delegates denounced their country’s proposed new constitution for relying too much on political parties and not enough on “the direct participation of the original peoples.” Entering his third presidential year, Morales announced new priorities for “structural change” and “decolonization” of the state, according to Bolpress.com. He proposed a “National Coordinating Agency for Change,” with overview of his cabinet and independence from his own ruling party.

The experience of Quechua labor leader Sylvia Lazarte, however, hints at a rough road ahead. The heroic 44-year-old indigenous and woman’s rights campaigner served as the elected president of Bolivia’s Constituent Assembly that concluded recently after almost 18 months. She guided it through what Prensa Latina described as a “pandemonium of racism, violence and ridicule.” Lazarte experienced physical threats and racial abuse as paramilitary youth formations, proxies for whites and local oligarchs, took over the streets of Sucre.

Indigenous reactions to Ecuadorian President Correa are not all favorable. The important Ecuadorian indigenous federation known by its Spanish initials CONAIE convened Jan. 10-12 in Santo Domingo for a national congress. Some 1,300 delegates from “14 nationalities and 18 peoples” were on hand. Speakers criticized the Correa government for rejecting as allies longtime foes of transnational corporations bedeviling Ecuador. One accused the government of “basing its process of citizen revolution on the fortress of the state, not on people’s organizations.”

Founded in 1986, CONAIE led nationwide protests that helped bring down Ecuadorian governments. The recently concluded Congress elected charismatic 32-year-old Marlon Santi as the new CONAIE president. To an interviewer, Santi pointed out that “Proposals from the indigenous movement and other social sectors … are not present on the national government’s political agenda.” He called upon Correa to recognize “the demands of indigenous nationalities and peoples, and he should do so.” If not, “the bases will respond with action.”

Here is the full article.

SN Power Prince to Avoid Chile Fish Farms Upon Advisement of the Chilean Government - Hydro-electric Visit Still On

Haakon 'safe,' but drops controversial fish-farm visit

An official royal visit to Chile has been trimmed once again, with Crown Prince Haakon dropping a long-planned visit to a Norwegian-controlled fish-farming operation because of labour and security trouble. Palace officials insist the crown prince is in no danger, though.

Chilean authorities advised the crown prince against going ahead with a visit to fish-farming facilities run by AKVA Group and Marine Harvest in Puerto Montt. Norway's ambassador to Chile, Pål Moe, told reporters the visit was cancelled because of an ongoing labour conflict at both plants.

No threats were lodged against the crown prince, and Chile's protocol chief Antonia Pena said "it's not dangerous for him to travel to Puerto Montt." Rather, the Chilean authorities issued a press statement that they didn’t want such a high-ranking person as the crown prince to visit places hit by such a conflict.

"It's too bad the visit can't be made, but I'll follow the advice the Chilean authorities give," Crown Prince Haakon said.

(But not the advice of the Mapuche: Mapuche Protest against Norwegian Hydroelectric Power )

Troubled trip

Environmentalists and critics of salmon farming had called for Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit to cancel their entire trip to Chile. They claimed that Norwegian-backed fish-farming operations in Chile exploit local workers and threaten wild salmon in the area.

(See: Chile's Flourishing Fish Farms Prompt Fears for Ecosystem )

Others have protested the royal visit because native groups in southern Chile are upset over plans by a Norwegian-owned firm, SN Power, to build a power plant in their area. A royal visit, they argue, would seem to condone the controversial plans.

Mette-Marit ended up staying home, after palace officials said she'd developed an acute case of stomach flu. Haakon traveled alone to Santiago, arriving Wednesday, and said he felt it was "right" to make the trip because of important ties between the countries.

Disappointed

Marine Harvest’s chief executive, meanwhile, claimed there was no conflict at his firm that warranted Thursday's cancellation. "We are very disappointed and don't understand this," said Leif Frode Onarheim. "At the same time, we respect the authorities' decision."

He thinks a workers' occupation at AKVA Chile may have prompted the cancellation, and that authorities fear the same could occur at other plants. AKVA Chile officials couldn't be immediately reached for comment.

Representatives of Norway's trade unions' congress, LO, had visited fish-farming operations in Chile last fall, and called for improvements in working conditions and terms. Marine Harvest is the world's largest fish-farming firm, while AKVA Group supplies equipment to the industry.

Another controversial visit carried out

Crown Prince Haakon went ahead with the visit to SN Power. "I'm convinced that SN Power is in a good dialogue with the local population, the Mapuche folk,"

(See: SN Power representatives have been only arrogant and unyielding to local concerns up until now. )

Crown Prince Haakon said. "I have worked with native peoples and their challenges through my engagement in the UN. I’m well aware of the issues."

(This sounds positive: Chile Terror Law Violates Due Process for Mapuche)

SN Power was formed in 2002 by Norwegian state-owned power agency Statkraft and Norfund to construct export ($$$ to exploit) Norway's hydro-electric expertise overseas.

(See: Power for the Mapuches but not for Uganda- Norwegian Government owner, SN Power, pulls out of Uganda hydroelectric venture citing economic unviability )

The Mapuche people fear their lands will be damaged and their livelihoods threatened by a hydro-electric plant.

The crown prince said it was essential that the local population be included in all planning and that their concerns be heard (but not heeded) . He said he was relying on SN Power's management (instead of checking the facts for himself) that they're doing so.

Here is the full article.

Hunger Strike Surpasses 100 days for Mapuche Woman Tried Under Chile’s Anti-Terrorism Laws for Setting fire to Matte Group’s Pine Plantation

CHILE’S BACHELET URGED TO HEED HUNGER STRIKER'S DEMANDS

Supporters Outraged By Government Decision To Force Feed Mapuche Protester Patricia Troncoso

(Jan. 23, 2008) Chile’s National Assembly for Human Rights led a protest Tuesday morning outside La Moneda Presidential Palace demanding that President Michelle Bachelet address the situation of fasting Mapuche prisoner Patricia Troncoso. The demonstration came on the heels of an open letter presented to Bachelet on Monday by Amnesty International, also demanding attention to Troncoso's case.

Prison guards decided Monday to sedate and administer intravenous feeding to Troncoso without her consent, a move that human rights groups decried as a violation of her rights. Troncoso has been fasting more than 100 days to protest a stiff arson conviction she received in 2002 under Pinochet-era terrorism laws. She has repeatedly denied intravenous feeding and stated that if she must die, she will.

Sergio Laurenti, Amnesty International’s Chile director, told the Santiago Times that forcible feeding is not a proper response to Troncoso's situation. He maintained that the only acceptable resolution is for the Chilean government to consider her demands and revise her jail sentence.

Though prison officials claim that it is within their institutional mission to intervene if a person in their custody is at risk of dying, Laurenti believes that they violated Troncoso's rights and are taking advantage of her weakened condition. “This is a cruel and potentially dangerous response because it was not what she wanted,” he said.

Meanwhile, human rights lawyer and leader of Tuesday's protest, Hugo Gutiérrez, told the Santiago Times that force feeding Troncoso is, “a violent decision on behalf of the State. Patricia Troncoso is carrying out a personal struggle against State repression of the Mapuche people and this response is an unfortunate one.”

The Mapuche community is equally upset by what it perceives as disrespect for Troncoso's demands. Pro-Mapuche news source, Mapu Express, cites a World Medical Association Declaration which states, with respect to hunger strikes, “forcible feeding is never ethically acceptable. Even if intended to benefit, feeding accompanied by threats, coercion, force or use of physical restraints is a form of inhuman and degrading treatment. ”

Troncoso, or “la Chepa” as she is known in Mapuche communities, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2002 for torching almost 250 acres of a pine plantation in Region IX. The land belonged to forestry company Minico, which is led by the Matte Group, an economically powerful Chilean conglomerate. The action was just one of many Mapuche-led efforts to reclaim indigenous land that has been taken over by private industry – the result of centuries of cultural imperialism.
Troncoso was tried under provisions of the Anti-Terrorist Law created under the Pinochet dictatorship and later revived by the administration of former President Ricardo Lagos. Prosecution under this law greatly increased the length of her jail term.

Troncoso and four other Mapuche prisoners at Temuco's Angol Prison began a hunger strike in October to draw attention to their sentences, and she is now the only remaining hunger striker. Troncoso was transferred to Herminda Martín Hospital in Chillán last week when her medical team determined she was at “vital risk” due to her rapidly deteriorating health (ST, Jan. 15).

This is not the first time the Chilean government has ignored requests made by Troncoso in recent days. When her medical team recommended moving Troncoso to a Santiago hospital, the government sent her to Chillán instead, much to the outrage of her family and supporters. When the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights requested a phone interview with Troncoso, orders from the government via the Regional Justice Office prevented her from doing so.

Here is the full article.

SN Power's (Statkraft Norfund) Norwegian Royal Couple Prepared to Face Critics in Chile

Crown Prince Haakon, Crown Princess Mette-Marit and some top Norwegian officials will likely need to deal with some critics when they visit a few controversial Norwegian-controlled businesses in Chile next week.

The royal couple's official visit to Chile is meant, in part, to highlight and drum up new business ties between Chile and Norway. The local population, however, isn't altogether happy with at least two of the businesses already there.

Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit are due to visit, for example, Marine Harvest. It's the world's largest seafood producer, controlled by Norwegian tycoon John Fredriksen, but it's been under attack by labour leaders both in Chile and Norway.

They claim Marine Harvest maintains poor working conditions for its employees and threatens them against joining labour unions. Norway's trade union congress LO released a critical report this week on both Marine Harvest and another Norwegian seafood producer, Cermaq, that it has forwarded to the Norwegian Foreign Ministry.

Marine Harvest has been having problems in Chile and logging losses, not least because of illness among the salmon it farms. Both wild salmon advocates and environmental groups have claimed that Marine Harvest's farming methods aren't environmentally friendly.

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"Norwegian seafood companies come to Chile and do things they'd never get away with at home," said Dave Bard of the National Environmental Trust's Pure Salmon Campaign in Washington.

Stefan Woelfl, a scientist at the Austral University of Chile in Valdivia, has conducted numerous studies of the region's lakes to determine the environmental impacts of salmon farming, which he described as serious.

"But if I find problems in a lake, I don't direct my complaints toward the company -- I direct the complaint to the government," Woelfl said. "The company didn't do anything wrong according to the law. It's the state that is allowing it to happen."

See: Chile's Flourishing Fish Farms Prompt Fears for Ecosystem
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Marine Havest officials have bashed the LO report, calling it "misleading" and full of "undocumented claims." Company spokesman Arne Hjeltnes said Marine Harvest has a "tight dialogue" with its labour organizations, and welcomes cooperation with them (so long as they don't demand improvements?). LO defended the report, saying it was based on many interviews with sources in Chile.

Meanwhile, another company owned by the state is also under fire in southern Chile. SN Power has sparked the anger of native groups over its planned construction of a hydroelectric plant.

(See:

Mapuche Protest against Norwegian Hydroelectric Power

Norwegian Power Projects in Mapuche, Chile Heartland Plunder Environment

SN Power, Norway, & Pacific Hydro, Australia, move on La Confluencia dam project on the Tinguiririca River- effort to reduce Europe's Carbon Emissions

SN Power (Statkraft Norfund) to cancel 600 million dollar hydro-power project after exec. shot at by Mapuche sympathizer in Santiago, Chile )

Company officials and Norway's government minister in charge of business and industry, Dag Terje Andersen, expect to meet criticism when they appear at the companies and participate in a seminar on fish health. It remains uncertain whether they'll also meet formal protests or organized demonstrations.

Here is the full article.

Norway's SN Power (Statkraft Norfund) Involved in Dispute with Philippine Indigenous People - Build-Operate-Transfer Scheme Draws Fire

“We need to redefine the queer concept of the build-operate-transfer scheme that was pioneered in the Cordillera for the sake of national development. They built the mines and dams here, operated them and transferred the gold and electric power (including the taxes) to Metro-Manila,” he said.

BAGUIO CITY (246 kms north of Manila) – The gentler among the Cordillera mountain peoples – Ifugaos – might not be as fierce as the Kalingas and Bontocs, but they are fighters too.

Contesting the alleged “theft” of their lands within the area of the 540-megawatt (mw) Magat Dam, Asia’s biggest dam by Isabela province, Governor Teododor Baguilat Jr. said they question why two lots in Sto Domingo, Alfonso Lista town where NAPOCOR situated their facilities was declared as Isabela province’s domain. “This is theft,” the provincial governor said.

Magat Dam, supplying electricity to the whole of Cagayan Valley Region and other parts of the country, and a fishing ground for some Isabelinos, was privatized in 2006.

Magat, located in San Mariano town, Isabela is known as the biggest dam facility in the Philippines, combining irrigation, flood control and power supply. With four generating units of 90 mw each, it has the largest capacity among the operating hydro electric power plants in the country.

It was built through WB-financing at a cost of $83.7 million and started commercial operations in 1983. Aboitiz Equity Venture Inc. who joined SN Power of Norway to form SN Aboitiz Power Inc. won the privatization bid in 2006 against 11 other bidders. “Isabela province only wants to have the bigger chunk of the taxes by SN Aboitiz to them,” Baguilat said.

Accruing to keepers of watersheds

Last quarter last year, Ifugao Rep. Solomon Chungalao raised during a meeting of the Regional Development Council his concern over the lack of benefits accruing to the keepers of the watersheds of the Magat Dam.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who presided over the meeting at the Presidential Mansion in Baguio City, directed the National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR) to look into the issue.

Earlier the issue was raised with the then three sectoral representatives of the Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives, for them to lobby for a redefinition.

Over in Hungduan town where the Hapao River serves as a big feeder to the Magat Dam, multi-awarded environmentalist, conservationist and Ifugao journalist Ramon Dacawi said, “Ifugaos could go as far as diverting the water flow if nothing is plowed back to them as keepers of the watersheds.”

Benguet and Ifugao need not lobby alone toward a better deal on the exploitation of Cordillera's water resources, Dacawi, Baguio City’s information officer added.

Redefining the watershed keepers

A redefinition of “keepers of watersheds” will mean they can demand for a share even at Bauko town in Mt. Province, which serves as the headwaters of the Agno, the main headwaters of the 345-mw San Roque Dam.

Baguio City, Dacawi added, will likewise be entitled as its Lucnab, Kias and Happy Hallow barangays are within the Agno watershed. Despite the murky water it delivers, the city, as headwater to the Balili, can then claim benefits from the operation of the mini-hydros of Hedcor downriver, he also said.

“After all, we need to redefine the queer concept of the build-operate-transfer scheme that was pioneered in the Cordillera for the sake of national development. They built the mines and dams here, operated them and transferred the gold and electric power (including the taxes) to Metro-Manila,” he said.

“We are claiming the structures in Sto Domingo, Alfonso Lista one hundred percent,” Baguilat said.

Here is the full article.

Future Norway King & Queen to Lay the Cornerstone of SN Power's New Plant in Chile to offset Carbon Emissions from Norway's Thriving Oil Industry.

Crown Prince Haakon of Norway

A state-owned Norwegian power company has angered native groups in southern Chile, and someone fired shots at a company executive earlier this week. The incident involving SN Power comes just two weeks before Norway is sending one of its royal couples to Chile, partly in the hopes of drumming up more (carbon credit) business between the two countries.

(See: SN Power, Norway, & Pacific Hydro, Australia, move on La Confluencia dam project on the Tinguiririca River- effort to reduce Europe's Carbon Emissions )

There as yet have been no changes (to visit the Mapuche maybe?) made to the official program of Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit, who are due to launch their visit to Chile on January 28. They're expected to lay the cornerstone for one of SN Power's new plants.

The three-day royal visit, the first since the late King Olav visited Chile in 1967, will include a large delegation of business executives from Norway. The royals are often used as so-called "door openers" (pawns) for Norwegian business keen to establish new contacts overseas, and all royal visits are aimed at strengthening ties between Norway(i.e. parasite) and the host country.

(No visits are scheduled for Uganda: Power for the Mapuches but not for Uganda- Norwegian Government owner, SN Power, pulls out of Uganda hydroelectric venture citing economic unviability )

Ironically(???), the Norwegian-owned SN Power has instead incurred the wrath of some living in southern Chile. The native Mapuche population claims SN Power's plans to build four hydroelectric plants in their area will threaten holy lands, dry up an important waterway and riverside land and dramatically alter their lifestyle.

(To undersand why, see what Spain (Endesa) has done to the Mapuche:

Journeyman Pictures presents "Damming of the Biobio River" - Endesa SA verses the Mapuche - What to expect from Endesa during the HydroAysen struggle.

Switch Off - 2004 Documentary of the Mapuche struggle against the international energy conglomerate, Endesa SA

Endesa Strategy & Tactics I – Revisiting the Ralco & Pangue Hydroelectric Projects on the Rio Bio Bio )

In an advertisement (wake up call) placed in newspaper Aftenposten last November, representatives for the Mapuche people claimed they have long opposed SN Power's plans and their concerns have been overlooked. They claim the new power plants also violate international treaties ratified by the Norwegian state regarding territorial rights and consideration.

SN Power, which specializes in renewable energy (while Norway is the world's third larget oil exporter), is 50 percent owned by Norway's Statkraft and 50 percent by Norfund. It develops, owns and operates wind and hydropower assets in India, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Peru and Chile.

(While Simultaneously: The Norwegian government is an active participant in and co-owner of Norwegian petroleum operations, both through the state-owned oil company Statoil and the government’s direct financial involvement. See: Cognitive Dissonance)

It describes itself as a long-term investor, and SN Power officials claim they are committed (in their opinion) to "social and environmental sustainability." Mario Marchese, the SN Power executive in Chile who was shot at on Monday, suggested the local population has misunderstood (?) the company's intentions.

(The Mapuche understand only too well: Hydroaysen Keeping Public in the Dark, Say Chile Dam Critics )

"They hear the word 'hydro' and think (Rio Biobio, Ralco, Pangue & Endesa) that large land areas will be submerged," he told newspaper Cronica Digital. "There aren't any power projects that won't affect the environment, but we want our effects to be minimal (tourists love dry rivers). Our alternative is the best for the country (like the SN Power projects in Uganda). We won't pollute the waters. All facilities will be built underground (and all profits will go to Norway)..."

Company director Nils Husby was careful not to blame the Mapuche people for the shooting, and their representatives have denied having anything to do with it.

One local mayor in Chile, however, said SN Power hasn't inspired confidence. "The people must be respected," Alejandro Kohler, the mayor of Panguipulli in Chile's Los Rios area, told Cronica Digital. He said they fear damage to the environment and increased long-term unemployment, even though development of the power plant can provide new jobs (???).

(IBENER S.A.'s two run of the river hydroelectric stations on the Duqueco River require 25 employees to operate: Professionals & Executives = 8, Technicians = 10, Administrative = 5, Aides = 2. See: IBENER S.A. 2002 Annual Report.)

Here is the full article.

Related Stories:

SN Power (Statkraft Norfund) to cancel 600 million dollar hydro-power project after exec. shot at by Mapuche sympathizer in Santiago, Chile

Mapuche Protest against Norwegian Hydroelectric Power

Power for the Mapuches but not for Uganda- Norwegian Government owner, SN Power, pulls out of Uganda hydroelectric venture citing economic unviability

SN Power, Norway, & Pacific Hydro, Australia, move on La Confluencia dam project on the Tinguiririca River- effort to reduce Europe's Carbon Emissions

SN Power (Statkraft Norfund) to cancel 600 million dollar hydro-power project after exec. shot at by Mapuche sympathizer in Santiago, Chile

(Jan. 9, 2008) Mario Marchese – an employee of a Norwegian company developing hydro projects in southern Chile - was shot at twice Monday morning as he was entering his car in the Las Condes borough of Santiago. Before leaving the scene of the crime the attacker dropped six fliers with the handwritten acronym “CAM” on them. Police investigators believe the acronym denotes the perpetrator’s affiliation with the Mapuche activist group Community Coordinator for Auraco-Malleco Conflict (CAM).

The shots missed Marchese and hit the driver's-side door of his car. Marchese said that he believes the gunman was not intending to hurt him, since he was in point-blank range and could have easily shot him.

Marchese is the Subsidiary Manager for Norwegian electric company SN Power and Executive Vice-President of SN Power’s Chilean subsidiary, Hidroeléctrica Troyenko. The hydroelectric firm currently has four new dam projects currently underway in Region XIV. The Troyenko projects are resisted by local communities, particularly in Panguipulli, which is predominantly Mapuche.

Marchese’s job with Troyenko has been to conduct informational sessions with the communities that would be affected by the development projects. Troyenko’s claims its policy regarding the projects has been one of active dialog with the local community. But local activists disagree, claiming Troyenko’s representatives have been only arrogant and unyielding to local concerns up until now.

(Talks like Endesa is currently holding in the Aysen Region: Hydroaysen Keeping Public in the Dark, Say Chile Dam Critics )

Hidroeléctrica Troyenko announced the temporary suspension of its projects in the Panguipulli region in late December due to pressure from Mapuche groups. Nils M. Huseby, SN Power’s Vice-President in Latin America , now says the Norwegian firm will certainly cancel the projects in light of Monday's attack, prematurely arriving at a decision that was supposed to made at the end of January. The company is concerned about security issues and has chastised Chile’s government for the lack of adequate security.

(Chile is already trying the Mapuche under Military Tribunals as Terrorists and ignoring them in the Judicial System. How much more repression does the Norwegian Government want? See: Chile’s century-long policy of discrimination and dispossession endures , Mapuche lands serve as garbage dump for Chilean Nation - United Nations investigates Environmental Discrimination , Small Mapuche community rests all of its hopes on a group of strangers in far-away Washington, DC - Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) )

CAM director Patricio Nekul stated his organization had nothing to do with Monday's attack and described CAM's mission as the “recuperation of indigenous land.” The organization has launched several campaigns against various national and multinational corporations that run operations on indigenous property, including campaigns against energy company Endesa and forestry company Arauco.

(More about Endesa and the Mapuche here:

Journeyman Pictures presents "Damming of the Biobio River" - Endesa SA verses the Mapuche - What to expect from Endesa during the HydroAysen struggle.

Switch Off - 2004 Documentary of the Mapuche struggle against the international energy conglomerate, Endesa SA

Endesa Strategy & Tactics I – Revisiting the Ralco & Pangue Hydroelectric Projects on the Rio Bio Bio )

Nekul assured the press that an attack like this is completely outside CAM’s ideals and methods and insisted that the presence of handwritten fliers is not sufficient evidence to implicate his organization.

The Observatory for the Rights of Indigenous People later released a statement about the attack, denouncing all forms of violence as contrary to their goal of promoting inter-ethnic relations.

“We cannot avoid expressing our surprise in regard to these acts,” said their communiqué. “CAM has limited its territorial actions to the Arauco-Malleco region, and is not one of the organizations that has any presence in the region where Trayenko plans to build the dams … an act of this type doesn't hold any logic for the communities affected by (the Trayenko projects).”

The case is currently under investigation by the Eastern Metropolitan Prosecutor’s Office in Las Condes.

Here is the full article.

Revisiting the Valdivia CELCO industrial spill of 2005

For those that say the production of paper products is more important than the environmental impact they cause ... Here is the result. The images of what happened in Valdivia, Chile ... Black necked swans, falling on houses, dead, without life...

Background Reading:

CHILE: Pulp Mill Reopens Despite Charges of Killing Swans

The imminent reopening of a pulp mill that polluted a nature sanctuary in Chile has further fueled environmentalists' criticisms of the Ricardo Lagos administration -- and is setting the scene for future conflicts with indigenous and fishing communities.

José Araya, leader of the organisation Action for the Swans of Valdivia, told Tierramérica that the government's administrative resolutions on the matter have favoured businessman Anacleto Angelini, owner of the Celulosa Arauco y Constitución (Celco) plant, to the detriment of environmental standards.

(Corporations tend to get preferential treatment from the Government in Chile compared to the United States and Europe: US Environmental Protection Agency forces paper companies to begin $400 million clean-up project to deal with PCBs in the Fox River )

Celco announced on Aug. 10 that by the end of the month it would reopen the factory, located near the Carlos Anwandter Nature Sanctuary on the Río Cruces, in the southern province of Valdivia. It will start at 59 percent of its productive capacity, and is expected to reach full operation -- 550,000 tonnes of cellulose annually -- by January 2006.

On Jun. 8, the company voluntarily shut down the plant, in the wake of the scandal about altering the scientific report on which the Supreme Court of Justice based its ruling acquitting Celco of the massive die-off of swans in the nature sanctuary, and revoking the factory shutdown ordered by a lower court.

Celco's lawyers presented the Court with its own interpretation of the scientific report, which was written by experts at the University of Concepción, instead of providing the report itself.

Although the Court recognised the ploy, it did not change its ruling. On Aug. 5 the Angelini group received the backing of President Lagos, who said in Valdivia that the pulp mill should reopen its doors if it obeyed environmental standards.

The Río Cruces sanctuary was home to Latin America's greatest concentration of black-necked swans (Cygnus malencoriphus), with some 6,000 of these birds. Since October 2004, experts began to notice that many of the swans and other species were dying due to the waste from the cellulose plant dumped into the area's waters.

More than 500 black-necked swans died, and today in the marshes there are only 300, because the rest migrated as a result of the dwindling supply of the plant that serves as the birds' main sustenance, due to contamination from the factory, according to a study published in April by the Southern University of Valdivia.

Chile's National Commission on the Environment, CONAMA, had closed the factory on Jan. 18, but then authorised its reopening on Feb. 16.

The regional delegation of CONAMA on Aug. 10 gave its implicit approval of the reopening by indicating that a Jun. 6 resolution remains in effect that obligates Celco to maintain reduced output as long as it fails to comply with some of the environmental standards.

In Araya's opinion, these administrative resolutions are illegal. "According to all the precedents presented by citizens, recognised by the national political arena, this factory necessarily should be subject to a new environmental impact study."

The activist rejected the arguments by the factory's supporters in defence of the 300 direct jobs at Celco, and another 2,000 indirect jobs in the forestry sector.

"What needs to be done is a complete assessment of the pulp mill's social costs. Here there is an environmental cost that citizens are paying, that the country's natural heritage is paying. There is also a social cost, for the effects on (farming and tourism) activities of other residents of Valdivia," Araya said.

President Lagos supported the idea of building a channel so that the industrial liquid waste that Celco has been dumping in the Río Cruces would be diverted to the Pacific Ocean instead, off the coastal town of Queule, 80 km north of Valdivia.

The production of kraft cellulose from pine and eucalyptus is destined entirely for exports for making paper. The whitening technique, known as elemental chlorine free, is one of the most widely used in the world, and is based on chlorine dioxide.

While Lagos gave his blessing to the channel in the nearby coastal village of La Barra, an assembly of artisanal fisherfolk, environmentalists, residents and representatives of other groups rejected that solution.

One outspoken opponent is Alfredo Seguel, leader of the Coordinator of Territorial Entities, an umbrella group of more than 20 Mapuche indigenous communities, including the Lafkenche, whose members live in coastal areas.

"The people most affected would be the Lafkenches. There are precedents that cellulose, despite all the technology being used, is always going to contaminate. Here it would harm ecosystems, food sovereignty and also the cultural and religious rights of the Mapuche communities and of peasant farmers and fishers," Seguel told Tierramérica.

The Angelini group wants to divert the Celco wastewater to the ocean because it is the cheapest option, as the channel would cost 45 million dollars, while the construction of a closed circuit for eliminating the waste in the factory itself would cost 120 million dollars, said the indigenous leader.

Celco has responded by saying it complies with all of CONAMA's requirements for correcting the contamination over three phases.

Here is the full article.

Norway's SN Power (Statkraft Norfund) suspends $600 million hydro-electric project in Chile's Mapuche heartland after virulent local protests.

Translated by Google:

Following a meeting between the top executive for Latin America of the Norwegian firm and the leader of the indigenous communities on 11 December, in Oslo, the European company decided to suspend their activities.

The pressure exerted by the negative reaction and the Mapuche communities were stronger. The Norwegian company SN Power decided to suspend work on the million dollar hydroelectric project in the Region of Rivers, after opposition from its inhabitants. This suspends the work of the largest European company that is developing in the country.

The decision to postpone the activities surrounding the project was taken on December 11, in Oslo, Norway. In that country, Nils Huseby, executive vice president for Latin America SN Power, met with Peter Antimilla, representative of the Mapuche communities of Coñaripe, at the seminar "The New Conquistadors? SN Power: Hydropower in the Mapuche Territory". Antimilla explained the rejection of the communities to the construction of power stations. "We do not want interference in our territories. They say that the plants will have no impact because they will not have reservoirs, but instead will inundate 120 hectares, will drill 20 miles of tunnels and trenches 300 meters deep. Just the Central Pellaifa project will affect more than eight thousand people, " he says.

Following the presentation, said Antimilla, the Norwegian executive requested a meeting. "We met for four hours and a pledge was made that all works related to the project will be suspended until the principal directors of the company will meet with all the affected communities," he says. The meeting with the residents, he added, will take place at the Region X by the end of January.

The day after the meeting in Oslo, Huseby sent a letter to Antimilla. "I would like to reiterate our desire and commitment to meet with representatives of indigenous communities, at a time and date suggested by you in January 2008, to hear thier position on our projects and to establish the principles of a possible dialogue," says the missive. It adds that "we confirm our commitment to maintain the current suspension of activities related to our projects until that meeting has been made." Antimilla said that "for us it is a very important measure, because although not yet started, construction of the plants was halted as well as all work for collecting information." In addition, he explains, in the Oslo meeting, Huseby raised two options for the future construction of the four plants. "He said that one way might be to move the project elsewhere or make the project smaller."

Regarding the meeting, Huseby added that "hope will be a first step in establishing a permanent and fruitful dialogue, so that the project’s design contributes to the sustainable development of the areas where located (...) We are conducting a comprehensive process of meetings, we have collected more than 1,000 people in the area, representing 25 organizations and we opened information offices in Coñaripe, Liquiñe, Panguipulli and Futrono, to fully cover the area and create meeting places. "

The suspension could delay the launch of the project.

What are the details of this million-dollar hydroelectric project?

The project involves an investment of more than $ 600 million and will add 580 megawatts (MW) of power to the Central Interconnected System (SIC) in the coming years. At the forefront, is the leading hydroelectric generator, SN Power of Norway and the second largest generator of renewable energy in Europe.

Through its subsidiary Hydro-Trayenko, where it has 80% of the property and is linked to the Chilean businessman Gustavo Pavez, with the other 20% - the foreign firm conducts feasibility and technical studies and exploratory analysis for the construction of four hydroelectric plants in Region X in the communes of Panguipulli, Futrono and Lago Ranco. These run of the river plants (without reservoir) are: Pellaifa (108 MW), Maqueo (320 MW), Liquiñe (118 MW) and Reyehueico (34 MW).

According to the timetable, the decision to commence will be taken in 2009. The entry into operation of the four projects was scheduled for 2013.

Here is the original article.

Related Stories:

Mapuche Protest against Norwegian Hydroelectric Power

Power for the Mapuches but not for Uganda- Norwegian Government owner, SN Power, pulls out of Uganda hydroelectric venture citing economic unviability

SN Power, Norway, & Pacific Hydro, Australia, move on La Confluencia dam project on the Tinguiririca River- effort to reduce Europe's Carbon Emissions

To see how the Mapuche benefited from the last hydro-project in their land, read:

Endesa Strategy & Tactics I – Revisiting the Ralco & Pangue Hydroelectric Projects on the Rio Bio Bio

Switch Off - 2004 Documentary of the Mapuche struggle against the international energy conglomerate, Endesa SA

Damming the Rio Bio Bio

Power for the Mapuches but not for Uganda- Norwegian Government owner, SN Power, pulls out of Uganda hydroelectric venture citing economic unviability

SN Power pulls out of unviable Uganda power projects

Norwegian multinational hydropower developer and operator Statkraft Norfund Power Invest AS (SN Power) is pulling out of four mini-hydropower dam projects in western Uganda.

Though the pullout is on the grounds of the project’s financial viability, SN Power is selling its license to another Norwegian power firm.

SN Power announced in December 2004 that it would make Uganda its entry point for Africa in the energy sector. The government had hoped its entry would help improve Uganda’s ailing energy sector when it began generation of 43.5 Megawatts of power in six districts in western Uganda.

The company said it decided to withdraw from the projects in August this year because they were deemed financially unviable.

“SN Power gave up the Muzizi and Nengo Bridge licence rights because we realised the projects would be not be commercially viable,” said Marte Lerberg Kopstad SN Power’s external relations manager.

“The Waki and Bugoye projects were developed to the point of investment decision, but SN Power decided not to go further as they did not fit our corporate strategy and the commercial viability was not strong enough.”

Mr Kopstad told The EastAfrican that SN power had decided to sell its rights to Norwegian power company Troenderenergi. This will now mean that residents of western Uganda will have to put up with irregular or no power supplies longer than the 24-month construction period.

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Energy Commissioner Paul Mubiru however said the pullout does not spell doom for the western districts as Troenderenergi is already preparing to continue with construction work at these sites.

The relatively small hydropower stations are expected to cost between $50 million and $60 million.

The Norwegian government, with some 100 years of experience in developing hydropower, owns SN Power. The company, licensed in November 2004 by the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA), was expected to demonstrate its expertise on four sites in western Uganda.

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About five per cent of Uganda’s population has access to electricity, and the 250MW Bujagali hydropower project under construction and eight other mini-hydropower projects are expected to expand production to another 15 per cent of the population and attract more industries to a country where domestic usage accounts for 70 per cent of power consumption.


(Read about what Norway's SN Power intends for Chile's indigenous Mapuche people: Mapuche Protest against Norwegian Hydroelectric Power , Norwegian Power Projects in Mapuche, Chile Heartland Plunder Environment )

Here is the full article.

Mapuche lands serve as garbage dump for Chilean Nation - United Nations investigates Environmental Discrimination

The Mapuche communities in Chile have called to the UN to inquire on Chile’s concentration of garbage dump near Mapuche houses, showing environmental discrimination on the indigenous communities.

The United Nations has given Chilean authorities no later than the end of November [2007] to answer allegations of “environmental racism” filed earlier this year by a host of Region IX-based environmental and Mapuche organizations.

In a letter dated Aug. 24 [2007], Juan Antonio Martabit Scaff of the United Nation’s permanent mission in Geneva, Switzerland called on the Chilean government to provide detailed information about numerous garbage dumps and sewage treatment facilities Mapuche groups claim are disproportionately concentrated near their communities. The organizations, which filed their complaint this past January, say the waste facilities also fail to meet minimum health and environmental standards.

“Please provide information about the measures taken to guarantee the dumps currently operating in the Araucanía Region meet the requirements established under both current environmental laws and the Indigenous Law 19.254, which among other things stipulates the right of communities who are directly affected by such projects to be consulted,” the letter reads.

The United Nations, which is giving the Chilean government until Nov. 30 [2007] to provide the information, also asked the state to provide scientific analysis of the various dumps and water treatment facilities in question. The letter also noted that Chile has failed to submit the last four reports it is supposed to file with the U.N. Human Rights Committee on a biennial basis. The international body is now demanding that Chile submit a single compilation report no later than June 30, 2008.

Roughly 20 percent of the land in Chile’s Region IX belongs to Mapuches, which make up approximately 26 percent of the area’s total population. Nevertheless, close to 70 percent of the area’s garbage dumps and all 10 of its sewage treatments plants are located on or near those lands. Together, the waste facilities affect directly affect more than 3,000 people living in 50 Mapuche communities, according to the Environmental Rights Action Network (RADA), the Latin American Observatory of Environmental Conflicts, the Koyam Newen group and other organizations behind the allegations.

Here is the full article.

Journeyman Pictures presents "Damming of the Biobio River" - Endesa SA verses the Mapuche - What to expect from Endesa during the HydroAysen struggle.

A MUST SEE VIDEO: The historic struggle of the Mapuche against Endesa SA will provide an insight to all those who oppose Endesa's HidroAysen Project.

The damming of the Biobìo River was a pivotal conflict for Chile - a battle between new democracy and the shady world of Pinochet's fascism.

When civilian government returned in 1990 an indigenous Law was passed. It allowed the Mapuche people threatened by the Endesa dams to register claims.

Yet most people were simply too scared to complain. "They're afraid in case the government gets angry with them [and] sends the military to smash them" But a brave few are testing out the new law.

Two lawyers fight it out over a key parcel of land. They represent the two sides of Chile's past. The Mapuche's lawyer: a former exile and prisoner of Pinochet's
regime. Endesa's lawyer: a founding member of the firm. It's a
tough fight.

Many of today's Chilean senators, judges and military officers were hand selected by Pinochet. Attending the 24th anniversary of his ascension to power it's clear that his influence is intact. The video shows him getting more medals while a military band salute his honour.

As he still receives support from home, the Mapuche lawyer neatly sums it up: "The government of Pinochet ended, but not the power of Pinochet."

Here is the video on youtube: Damming the Biobio River

Switch Off - 2004 Documentary of the Mapuche struggle against the international energy conglomerate, Endesa SA

The Biobío River, which begins in the Andes and empties into the Pacific Ocean, in addition to having a high ecological value has a great historic significance. During the conquest of America, Biobío became the natural border separating colonized territories of indigenous lands Pehuenche-Mapuche, whose inhabitants were able to repel the attacks of the Spaniards, and even apprehend, prosecute and execute its captain Pedro de Valdivia.

Now, 500 years after these events, the Biobío River seems to continue to be a matter of dispute between the Spanish and Mapuche. At least that's what the documentary directed by Manel Mayol, Switch-Off says. It recounts the expropriation of Mapuche lands by the Spanish owned multinational corporation, Endesa SA. The facts date back to 1997, when Endesa began construction of the Ralco dam on the Upper Biobío. This project swamped the land, forced the eviction of Mapuche families in the area, and flooded 14 ancient cemeteries of this sacred people.

The documentary is based on a series of interviews, in which those directly affected by the dam, and hose who have joined the cause of the Mapuche people, explain how the company "stole" land, "criminalized" their protests and flooded their territory.

The film, which was recorded during six weeks in 2004, also reveals the difficulties facing indigenous people protesting the construction of the dam. The film explains that those convicted of rebellion against the plans of the company are treated "as terrorists." In addition, detainees suffered accusations by anonymous witnesses, called "faceless witnesses", who’s faces were covered by masks to avoid disclosing their identity.

In one of the interviews that appears in the documentary, a woman accused of terrorist acts explains that after spending more than a year in prison, she decided to escape and go into hiding: "This justice system does not represents the people," she argues in the film .

All this means, as Mayol emphasizes, "the story of the Ralco dam has all the necessary ingredients to make a compelling movie."

Apart from the testimonies of those persecuted for rebelling against the construction of the dam, the documentary includes families who accepted the deal the deal from the company. These Mapuche reported receiving some isolated houses, in poor condition and without lights. They were deceived because they were promised that they would not have to pay for electricity and now must sell their animals to survive.

But not only those who are demonstrating against the dam are persecuted, the editor of a local newspaper in the documentary explains how he was arrested and interrogated by the authorities about his relationship with the team recording of the documentary “Switch Off”.

The director of the film tried to get Endesa’s version of the story for the documentary, but reported no success. On several occasions the film shows the director trying to contact Endesa by phone without success.

Currently, 40 Mapuche prisoners are rebelling against the dam and four indigenous people went on a 40 day on hunger strike.

Here is the video: Switch Off - The Movie.

Small Mapuche community rests all of its hopes on a group of strangers in far-away Washington, DC - Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)

[Nov. 22, 2007] Puerto Montt: Fighting for years to preserve the last, tiny plot of land it has left following years of state and more recently industrial encroachment, a small Mapuche-Huilliche indigenous community near Puerto Montt, Region X is now resting all of its hopes on a group of strangers in far-away Washington, DC.

This past February – out of legal options here in Chile – the Pepiukelen community sent its case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). An autonomous branch of the Organization of American States, the IACHR examines accusations of human rights violations, referring more egregious cases to its sister body, the Inter-American Court on Human Rights.

Nine months later the IACHR has yet to rule on the case. And, with the latest in a series of recently arrived salmon industry factories now beginning to operate quite literally on their doorsteps, hope springs far from eternal for the eight large families that make up the Pepiukelen community.

"At this point there’s still a chance the Inter-American Commission could rule in our favor, but honestly, we’re disappointed with what’s happening up there. I’ve spoken with lawyers from different parts of Latin America who have presented cases before the Commission, and it’s never taken this long before," said Francisco Vera Millaquén, the werken (spokesperson) for the indigenous community.

The Pepiukelen community has resided in the area near Pargua, a launching point for ferries traveling between mainland Chile and the island of Chiloé, for as long as anyone can remember. Maps dating back to the time of Chile’s independence suggest the community once possessed some 11,000 acres of land. Two centuries later, mostly as a result of expropriations by the state, the community has seen that vast property reduced to just 8.5 acres, land on which Vera and his family members continue to support themselves through farming.

But it’s not just the size of the property that has changed. Thinking back to the years of his youth, Vera recalls the sloping, seaside plot with its then crystal-clear river and easy access to the beach as a magical playground.

"It’s difficult," said Vera, struggling unsuccessfully to contain his emotions. "Years ago, right here, there was a school. And we’d play all over this area. We’d always swim in the river. Every summer we used it as a natural swimming pool. It was the same thing here on the beach…And now that’s all gone."

The most notable changes have taken place over the course of the past 15 years, a period of time that corresponds precisely with a regional boom in farmed salmon. With exports increasing more than 10-fold since the early 1990s, the now US$2.2 billion-per-year farmed salmon industry has transformed southern Chile’s economy and now employs an estimated 45,000 people, principally in Regions X and XI.

Considered by many a godsend for the mostly rural southern region, for Vera and his family the salmon boom has been more like a living nightmare. The start with, the "farms" – offshore raft structures where salmon are raised in pens by the tens of thousands – have polluted area waters and thus driven local artisan fishermen and shell fish harvesters out of business.

"It’s not a coincidence," said Vera, noting that over the past two decades local shell fish have disappeared, red tides have become increasingly common, and native fish have simply died off. "It’s all a chain that began approximately 20 years ago when people still thought these companies were setting up operations that wouldn’t be harmful to the environment. Today it’s finally being shown that’s not the case."

The industry has also spawned a host of satellite businesses, such as processing plants, fish meal and oil factories, and salmon feed plants: precisely the kinds of factories that because of Pargua’s proximity to Chiloé (one of the most concentrated salmon farming areas in the country) have one by one set up shop in the immediate vicinity of the Pepiukelen community. Vera’s farm is now surrounded by four large plants.

"What we have now is a landscape that is completely, absolutely horrible," said Vera. "Besides painting their facilities ugly colors that don’t at all fit the surroundings, the companies are also causing tremendous harm to the environment."

In the late 1990s, when the first of the factories moved in, members of the unprepared Pepiukelen community had little idea what was taking place. But in 2001, when a salmon company called Long Beach managed to acquire land directly abutting Vera’s property – just meters from his front door – the community took direct action.

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"Here the authorities have always just shut their eyes. And when I say authorities, I mean all of the authorities: starting with the president and her cabinet, the regional government, the judges who’ve sold out, and finally the members of Congress who have simply looked past the problem. They haven’t wanted to help," said Vera.

The community leader did note one exception: Sen. Alejandro Navarro of the Socialist Party, who has tried to exert some influence on behalf of the Pepiukelen. According to Navarro, the problem in Chile is that both the courts and government environmental authorities have a built in bias toward "mega-projects," i.e. business ventures involving substantial amounts of capital investment.

"In this particular case, and despite a host of irregularities, the project was allowed to go ahead because of the law’s passion for development and production and because of the intolerance of Region X’s regional authorities," said Sen. Navarro.

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Sen. Navarro for one is convinced the IACHR will eventually rule in favor of the Pepiukelen Community. "We’re going to take this all the way to the Inter-American Court on Human Rights," he said. "And I think Chile’s going to lose. Just like what happened in Ralco, with the Pehuenche community, Chile’s going to be convicted and the state’s going to have to shell out a lot of money to pay for the damage caused by this private venture."

Vera, however, appears less and less convinced. With the Los Fiordos factory now basically completed and the IACHR dragging its feet, hope is certainly running thin. "Although we still have some faith, bit by bit we’re losing it, because we haven’t yet seen any clear, concrete result. Up to this point the Commission has just done things to prolong the process," he said.

The salmon companies, meanwhile, "want this land at any price," Vera added. "It doesn’t matter to them what they have to do to get it. That’s the final objective. If they have to eliminate people, they’ll do it. If they have to remove people, they’ll remove them. They don’t have a problem doing any of that."

Endesa Strategy & Tactics I – Revisiting the Ralco & Pangue Hydroelectric Projects on the Rio Bio Bio

How Transparent is Endesa?

Endesa exploits weak environmental protection laws, conflicted national and international bureaucracies, suppresses adverse environmental impact statements, negotiates in secret, misleads investors, diverts funds, files incomplete environmental impact statements, tramples indigenous people's rights, fails to comply with contractual obligations, fails to disclose future hydroelectric development plans, and inadequately compensates affected displaced local people.

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Excerpted from: Hydroelectric Development on the Bío-Bío River, Chile

Overview

Until recently, the Bío-Bío river cascaded through the heart of Pehuenche territory. Today the river is harnessed by the Pangue dam and the soon to be completed Ralco dam. The hillsides have been stripped of their timber and the river valleys flooded. Many of the Pehuenche–a cultural group often described as the last Chilean Indigenous group to live by traditional means on traditional lands–have lost their homes and are being forced to accept resettlement in the distant and difficult mountains. The Pehuenche had no opportunity to participate in the decisions to dam their river, deforest their hills or flood their valleys. And the Pehuenche had no opportunity to help shape the varied remedies offered by project developers as meagre compensation for the loss of ancestral lands, resources, community cohesion and way of life. Inept planning and inadequate local involvement in decision-making resulted in hydroelectric dam development without adequate assessment of the real human and environmental costs. The end effect is that a small, poverty-stricken band of Pehuenche Indians have been forced to subsidize Chilean hydroelectric power development at the cost of their economy, resources and culture.

Dam Development Decisions and Controversy

In 1989 hydroelectric dam development on the Bío-Bío river was first proposed by Empresa Nacional de Electricidad SA (ENDESA)–a private energy and resource development corporation in Chile. In 1990, the newly elected Chilean government approved plans for hydroelectric development of the Bío-Bío river. Implementing this project would require invoking the Electrical Services Law (decreed during Augusto Pinochet’s regime in 1982) to privatize Pehuenche reservation land. ENDESA applied for a loan to the private-sector arm of the World Bank Group–the International Finance Corporation (IFC)–to finance the construction of the state-sanctioned, privately owned Pangue Dam. ENDESA did not request, nor did the IFC make any reference to, involvement in another five hydroelectric dams on the Alto Bío-Bío river. In 1990 the IFC began appraising the Pangue Dam proposal.

(When first assessing a river for hydroelectric utilization, Endesa typically exploits Chile's liberal mining laws: Environmental impacts of the Endesa El Porton Dam in the Puelo River Basin )

In December 1992, the IFC board approved the decision to invest US$150 million in the Pangue dam project. On 22 October 1993, the IFC and ENDESA signed an investment agreement providing a US$170 million loan to ENDESA to build the Pangue dam, and US$4.7 million in equity for the Pangue project. Both parties accepted the state of New York as the legal jurisdiction. Since the agreement was secret, the Pehuenche had no way to know that arrangements were being made about them. The loan agreement, in addition to containing plans that would determine the fate and livelihood of an Indigenous nation, granted the IFC a 2.5 per cent equity interest in Pangue SA, a subsidiary wholly owned by ENDESA (then a Chilean company). Pangue SA would build and operate the hydroelectric facility. At the same time that the IFC finalized its Pangue funding agreement with ENDESA, work began to develop the initial plans for the second dam, the Ralco dam, immediately upstream from the Pangue.

Development plans and financing decisions occurred despite the many and vocal protests by various Pehuenche, Chilean citizens, and nongovernmental organizations who expressed deep concern over the environmental and social impacts of building the first and then second of a proposed series of six dams on the Bío-Bío. Beginning in 1991, the Pehuenche community and their advocates participated in public protests and letter-writing campaigns, and provided testimony to the Chilean public, Chilean government and international forums. They expressed opposition to the dam project and their desire to retain their ancestral lands. As the years went by and development decisions fuelled the early stages of dam construction (clearing of hillsides, building of roads), local protests continued and were further strengthened with increased references to Chilean laws protecting Indigenous land rights. These laws include the Chilean Constitution adopted in 1990, the October 1993 Indigenous Peoples Law, and the March 1994 Environment Law. Under the 1993 Ley Indigena (Indigenous Peoples Law), the Pehuenche control their lands. The national Indigenous development corporation, Corporación Nacional de Desarrollo Indígena (CONADI), a government agency formed by this law, has the fiduciary right to accept or refuse transfers, exchanges, privatizations or expansions (permutas) of Indigenous lands. And, under the 1994 Environment Law, a similar commission–Comisión Nacional del Medio Ambiente (CONAMA)–was established to review and approve all development-related decisions affecting the natural environment. The Chilean environmental organization GABB–Grupo de Alto Bío-Bío–emerged as a major force in Chilean politics, educating citizens about the environmental impacts of dams on the Bío-Bío and the importance of enforcing the newly created laws. GABB developed close collaborative ties with a number of international NGOs, most notably the International Rivers Network (IRN), whose educational efforts brought the issue to the awareness of tens of thousands of environmental activists around the world.

Dam development protests citing violations of Chilean national law were dismissed by ENDESA as irrelevant, since the project was approved prior to the formation of these laws. Furthermore, ENDESA argued that under the 1982 Energy Law, the nation’s need for energy superseded Indigenous rights. In response, dam opponents argued that Pangue was designed to work in conjunction with a large reservoir dam upstream (Ralco), that the government should consider environmental and social effects of building two dams before giving approval to build Pangue, that new development proposals should be assessed for their individual and cumulative impact, and that development decisions should reflect full compliance with current Chilean law.

Public protests against the World Bank funding of the Pangue dam were widely covered in the Chilean and international media, and this coverage raised considerable concern among private investors who were brought in following the initial IFC/ENDESA financing agreement. Pangue project supporters, including IFC staff, produced rebuttal arguments describing Pangue as a single, stand-alone dam unrelated to ENDESA’s other dams, and a hydroelectric development project that was located adjacent to but not on Pehuenche lands. Thus, the project reportedly would not involve any involuntary resettlement of Pehuenche. The IFC’s assurance that Pangue was a stand-alone dam, and ENDESA’s assurance that it would only use IFC funds for this single dam, calmed investor fears, and the project proceeded. In 1996, despite long and intense protest in Chile and abroad, the Pangue dam was completed and its reservoir filled.

Endesa Eludes the National & International Regulatory Authorities

The intense period of national and international protest in the early and mid-1990s provoked a wide array of responses. The Pehuenche and Mapuche communities became increasingly politicized by their conditions and experiences, and their place-based issues involving land and resource rights increasingly came to be seen as national issues. National and international nongovernmental organizations developed close collaborative ties to communicate and encourage political action. The Chilean government was continually challenged by the contradictions between rights-protective legislation and the lack of political will or power to enforce the law (challenges that produced significant political fallout). And the World Bank saw its image and actions placed under increasingly critical international scrutiny.

In 1995, in response to Chilean and international advocacy criticizing Bío-Bío dam development and human rights abuses, the IFC hired Dr Theodore Downing (President Emeritus of the Society for Applied Anthropology) to conduct an external audit of the social impacts of the Pangue dam. Specifically, Downing was asked to evaluate the efficacy of the Pehuen Foundation, an organization created by IFC and ENDESA to offset the socio-economic impacts of hydroelectric development. In October 1995 Downing travelled to Chile and met with some sixty stakeholders representing different sides of the dam development conflict. Downing presented the evaluation plan to the IFC, which accepted it, completed his fieldwork in November and December 1995, and submitted his report to the IFC in May 1996 (Downing 1996).

The Downing audit findings supported conclusions that the Pehuen Foundation implemented a programme of resettlement that failed to incorporate the rights of Indigenous peoples, and failed to compensate all affected peoples adequately–in direct violation of the World Bank Group’s involuntary resettlement and indigenous policies. In addition to these and other critical findings, Downing documented those instances where Foundation objectives were being met, and also offered a number of specific recommendations to address past failures and improve the ability of the Pehuen Foundation to address the socio-economic needs of the Pehuenche community.

On 17 November 1995, while Downing was in the field conducting his Pehuen Foundation evaluation, a group of nearly four hundred Chilean citizens, including Pehuenche Indians, environmentalists and other concerned individuals, filed a complaint with the World Bank’s Inspection Panel. This complaint was unrelated to Downing’s investigation. The Chilean NGOs, led by GABB, alleged that the IFC had violated Bank rules on environmental assessment and its own environmental and social policies on dam and reservoir projects, Indigenous peoples, involuntary resettlement, management of cultural property, wildlands protection and management, and project supervision, as set forth in ‘IFC: Environmental Analysis and Review of International Finance Corporation Projects’. They were unaware that Downing had discovered and was reporting the same conclusion from within the IFC. Both the Downing report and the Chilean complaint charged that IFC funds allocated to Pangue SA were appropriated and applied to the Ralco project, in clear violation of the loan agreement and the IFC’s assurances that its loan funds would be used only for Pangue, not Ralco.

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In May 1996 the IFC received Downing’s report. According to Downing’s statements, on the day he submitted his report, IFC and ENDESA announced their new agreement to use the Foundation to mitigate the social impacts of Ralco dam construction–especially resettlement. Two weeks later IFC staff submitted a summary of Downing’s report to ENDESA for their approval before releasing it to the Pehuenche in completion of the participatory evaluation. ENDESA rejected the summary and threatened to sue the IFC and Downing if they released the report to the Indians or the public (Downing, personal communication). The IFC agreed to suppress the Downing report and terminated the final phase of his investigation–a reporting requirement included in Downing’s consultant contract that involved disseminating findings and recommendations to Pehuenche and the broader Chilean community.
At the same time that the IFC accepted and then censored the Downing report, in the spring of 1996, GABB commissioned a critique of the Ralco environmental impact statement (EIS). The resulting report prompted the Chilean environmental agency CONAMA to declare the Ralco environmental impact statement unsatisfactory. The GABB critique found that not only did the EIA omit an analysis of environmental impacts, it lacked details on resettlement plans for the more than five hundred Pehuenche who would be moved for the Ralco dam. Subsequent pressure from ENDESA and government officials prompted CONAMA to retract its finding.

*(Such flimsy environmental impact statements are still the norm today: False Environmental Impact Statements induce Regional Environment Commission to Implement Fines. )

Also in the spring of 1996, World Bank President James Wolfensohn contracted Jay Hair, President Emeritus of the National Wildlife Federation, to evaluate ENDESA’s compliance with the IFC/ENDESA agreement (including environmental and social-impact mitigation plans) and review the findings of the still censored Downing report. Commissioning another independent evaluation provided a legitimate excuse to delay the release of the Downing report (a tactic that ultimately kept the Downing findings secret until the Ralco comment period had passed and development plans were approved). Wohlfensohn’s actions also served to deflect public criticisms over the failure of the World Bank Inspection Panel to investigate the environmental and social complaints associated with Pangue dam.

In February 1997, in response to the abundant evidence of project failures and political pressures emerging from all quarters, the IFC served notice to ENDESA that failure to meet the environmental conditions of their loan would result in a declaration of default. Rather than take action to comply with contracted obligations, ENDESA found a way to deflate the power of the World Bank in this affair by seeking financing elsewhere. In March 1997, the World Bank Group/IFC loan was repaid by ENDESA with funds secured from a German private development bank consortium (Dresdner Bank). This action reduced IFC participation to its 2.5 per cent equity in Pangue SA.

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The CfHR review was partially enhanced by unanticipated access to the censored Downing report. On 24 December 1997, Downing finally received notice from the IFC that it would not seek legal remedy if he copied and distributed his report, providing that he added a qualifying statement that the report was not an official IFC document. The IFC granted this permission to release Downing’s research findings after the public review period for the Ralco project had expired. Thus, while the CfHR had the opportunity to review the Downing evaluation as part of their inquiry into human rights abuse, the Chilean people did not have access to this critical information when they most needed it. During the eighteen months that the IFC kept Downing’s report secret, ENDESA negotiated resettlement packages with individual Pehuenche families, with the assurance that the Pehuen Foundation would implement the resettlement programme. These assurances were made despite ENDESA having on file the evidence provided by Downing that the Pehuen Foundation failed to meet the economic, social, cultural and environmental needs of the Pehuenche already affected by the Pangue dam, and lacked the technical means to mitigate adequately the impoverishment that would result from resettlement associated with further dam development.

By withholding this crucial documentation on the functional viability of the Pehuen Foundation from the people that the foundation was supposed to serve, the IFC and ENDESA prevented the Pehuenche from making an informed decision about their future.

On 8 January 1998, despite lack of approval from CONADI, ENDESA announced that it would complete agreements with contractors in February 1998 and begin bidding in March 1998 for two civil construction projects: a tunnel and the dam itself. Construction of Ralco dam required the displacement of more than 1,000 people, including 600 Pehuenche from the communities of Ralco-Lepoy and Quepuca-Ralco. ENDESA relocated some Pehuenche on farms in the snow-covered Andean highlands above the dam and others onto downstream settlements. Construction in the area has continued, as have civil protests.

*(The Mapuche are currently under threat from SN Power (Norway) to dam more rivers in their ancestral homelands: Mapuche Protest against Norwegian Hydroelectric Power , Norwegian Power Projects in Mapuche, Chile Heartland Plunder Environment )

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The World Bank Apologizes for Involvement with Endesa

In April 1998, while attending the Summit of the Americas meeting in Chile, World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn apologized for the Bank’s alleged participation in the Ralco hydroelectric project in southern Chile, noting that it will displace some 96 Indigenous Pehuenche families from their homes on the upper Bío-Bío river. Wolfensohn said to reporters covering the Summit that Ralco ‘was not one of the high points in the bank’s experience’.

*(The World Bank suspended funding for large dams after this incident only until recently, See: Nam Theun II Hydroelectric Project in Laos)

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The Vultures Circle - Post Dam Natural Resources Exploitation

The previously isolated Bío-Bío region is now characterized by unchecked in-migration, land speculation and deforestation. The area has attracted a number of independent timber contractors who give Pehuenche landowners small sums of money, harvest their trees and leave, making the landowners unwittingly responsible for the violation of Chilean forestry laws, which require permits and reforestation. Fines have been levied, and a number of Pehuenche, unable to pay the steep fines, live in fear of losing their land rights or are currently threatened with eviction. As indicated in the previous chapter in this volume and evidenced in recent events, the Ralco dam development controversy continues as Pehuenche communities resist resettlement, protest dam development activities and related deforestation, and deal with the difficult outcomes of increasingly violent confrontations.

* (Exploitation of the Hydro Aysen dam project is already being planned by the mining industry. See: Xstrata & Transelec Negotiate Cuervo River Dam Project )

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Exploitation of Legal Loopholes Paves the Way for Hydroelectric Projects

For a brief period of time (much of the 1990s), the international political climate and the operating culture of institutions and corporations increasingly supported endeavours that enhanced human rights and protected the environment (as evidenced by global treaties, social and environmental rights-protective policies, ethical codes of corporate conduct). However, while the nations of the world passed human rights and environment legislation, and organizations like the World Bank became increasingly transparent (see Cernea 1997), a major shift occurred in development financing. The financing of public utilities–water supply, electrical generation, and telecommunications networks–increasingly occurred via privatized processes. By the late 1990s the mode of operation evidenced by the IFC/ENDESA relationship–where public financing was used in private partnerships to fund development projects that first and foremost meet the interests and needs of the private partner–became the norm. What this case suggests is that international development financing through private partnerships require that institutions and agencies negotiate in secret, retain control over ‘sensitive’ human and environmental information, and thus have the means to circumvent rights-protective laws, policies and procedures presently contained in national governments and multinational lending agencies. This case demonstrates a culpability gap–one that is likely to widen in the years to come.

* (The Carbon Credits (Cap & Trade) loophole from the Kyoto Treaty is already being exploited to develop Patagonia, Chile as a mining mecca to "offset global warming". See: Chile Environment Exploited to Offset European Pollution )

Here is the full article.