Indigenous activist waivers in fight against Endesa

January 7, 2002

In what could be death blow to the resistance against the Endesa power company's Ralco Dam project on the Bio Bio River, Pehuenche activist Berta Quintreman last week signed a preliminary agreement to sell her disputed lands to the power
company.

Quintreman is a member of one of six area families that have resisted the dam's construction on the Bio Bio River in southern Region VIII. Sources report that the activist would "several hundred thousand dollars" for the property, far more than Endesa had awarded to another 90 families living in the dam's reservoir, if the deal is finally consumated.

Although news of the sale set off alarm bells throughout the environmental community, attorneys working with the Quintreman family said the preliminary agreement had an "escape clause" and that the sale had not been concluded.

The Quintreman family has been fighting the Ralco Dam project for nearly a decade. Berta Quintreman filed a lawsuit in January, 2000, against former Economy Minister Jorge Leiva for illegally conceding Endesa the rights to build the Ralco dam. The Santiago Appellate Court rejected the lawsuit that November, but required Endesa to provide for the relocation of Pehuenche families and to heed the Indigenous Law. Quintremans argued that the Ralco dam will not only flood Pehuenche property, but will also cause serious damage to the group's culture. The hydroelectric plant will lead to the destruction of tribal burial grounds and impede the flow of the river, which holds cultural and spiritual significance for the Pehuenche.

Before inaugurating the Ralco dam, Endesa must obtain permission from some 100 families of the Pehuenche Indian tribe to flood their lands. This requirement is a part of the 1993 Indigenous Law, which protects land historically held by indigenous peoples and stipulates that no indigenous property can be expropriated unless the indigenous community involved unanimously agrees to cede the land.

In compensation for the land that will be submerged by the Ralco Dam project, Endesa has offered payment as well relocation for affected families.

Activists opposed to the project argued that the alternative properties are of lesser quality and are located in a colder climate, unsuitable to the needs of the community. Indeed, Pehuenche already relocated to the El Huachi and El Barco areas have complained about their livestock's miserable condition, the lack of technical assistance, a shortage of firewood and lack of medical assistance.

Anthropologists also point out that the relocation disrupts the Pehuenche seasonal migration between higher altitudes in the summer and the riverside's warmer climate in the winter.

The Ralco hydroelectric plant is the second of six dams planned for the Bio Bio River by the Spanish-Chilean power giant Endesa, Chile's principal electricity provider. Work on the US$500 million dam began in March after years of struggle with environmental groups and indigenous activists. The dams on the Bio Bio River, Chile's most important river, are planned to meet future growth in the country's electricity needs.

Source:CHIP NEWS