LS: Indians take dam protest to Chilean president

March 8, 2002

SANTIAGO, Chile, (Reuters) - Angry at a Spanish-owned company's plans to build a dam that would destroy Indian homes, Chilean indigenous activists took their protest to the presidential palace on Friday, interrupting a ceremony attended by President Ricardo Lagos.

The $500 million Ralco hydroelectric dam in the forests of central Chile, which the government says is needed to satisfy growing energy demand, was the focus of violent clashes between police and Pehuenche Indians earlier this week.

On Friday, a woman dressed in Indian garb grabbed the microphone from Minister for Women's Affairs Adriana Delpiano as she was making a speech on a platform outside La Moneda presidential palace to mark International Women's Day.

Witnesses said the protester shouted, "No to Ralco," as Lagos, sitting cross-legged, looked on calmly two yards (meters) away. Presidential security officers carried the protester away as Indian women continued to shout slogans.

"I apologize to the women of Chile for what happened in this event because the women of Chile deserve a ceremony carried out respectfully," Lagos told reporters.

Some of the local indigenous population oppose construction of the dam being built by energy firm Endesa Chile END.SN EOC.N ELE.MC on the Bio Bio river because it will flood land to which they claim historical ownership rights.

Since beginning the project, Endesa has faced fierce opposition from the 93 Pehuenche families on the banks of the river whose homes would be destroyed by the dam.

All but eight families have negotiated with the company to move to new plots higher up in the mountains. Other Pehuenches whose lands will not be flooded are in dispute with Endesa over compensation for "indirect" property damage.

On Tuesday, police arrested 55 protesters near Ralco in what their lawyer said was a heavy-handed operation reminiscent of the security forces' tactics during ex-dictator Augusto Pinochet's 17-year rule.

A group of Pehuenches, a subgroup of the larger Mapuche Indian population believed to number around 1 million, had blocked a road to stop a transformer from reaching Ralco, which is 310 miles (500 km) south of Santiago. Protesters hurled rocks at police in riot gear who fired pellets.

Endesa Chile, majority owned by Spain's Endesa, has said the protests will not delay construction of the 570 Megawatt dam, scheduled for completion in late 2003, and has called on the government and police to keep order.

Source: Reuters