Action Alert Archives : May 3, 2002

Action Alert

NGO Coalition denounces attempted kidnapping of Indigenous woman opposed to EDC-supported project

The indigenous Mapuche people of Chile need your help.  One of their leaders has been a target for kidnapping due to resistance to the Export Development Canada (EDC)-supported Ralco dam in Chile.

On April 14, Sara Imilmaqui, sixty-year old Mapuche leader and member of the Mapu Domuche Newen organization, fought off attempts to force her into the backseat of an unknown car.  This has not been the first case of harassment against Ms. Imilmaqui.  In March, her home was broken into and her computer was stolen.  In 1998, she was followed and intimidated by an unknown man, later identified as a retired police officer and thought to be the company’s security staff.

The construction of this dam will harm the Pehuenche people, the last Mapuche tribe to live a traditional, seasonal pastoralist lifestyle.  Without arable land and suitable areas to migrate within, their culture is at risk.  ENDESA, the Spanish electrical company that is building the dam, is relocating Pehuenche communities by making promises it is not keeping.  Only 6 families remain in the area. 

Currently under construction, the 155 m high Ralco dam is the second of six to be built along Chile’s Biobío river.  Upon completion, Ralco will flood 3,400 hectares of land, displace 600 people, and threaten the existence of 50 animal and aquatic species.

Export Development Canada is providing $17 million for Ralco and has already put US $20.5 million into financing the first dam, Pangue.  Completion of the Pangue dam has already led to illegal forestry activity on the Pehuenche's land, and according to a report completed for the World Bank, the Pangue dam failed to comply with the World Bank environmental standards that were a condition of the project's financing.  The World Bank has not provided support to the Ralco dam.

Although the National Commission on the Environment and the National Indigenous Corporation originally deemed Ralco illegal, President Frei dismissed directors in both institutions and ENDESA was given a permit to build the dam.  Despite court injunctions, construction for the Ralco dam has continued. 

There have been reports of increasing violence in the Alto Biobío.  In an effort to stop Alstom Canada from bringing two transformers to Ralco, the Pehuenche people formed a human chain last December.  Authorities put women and children in jail for days and called these peaceful protestors terrorists.  The recent events against Ms. Imilmaqui clearly demonstrate that her life is in grave danger.        

Ms. Imilmaqui will represent the Mapuche people’s struggle at the Permanent Assembly of First Nations People at the United Nations in New York from May 13-24. 

Please write to EDC president and CEO Ian Gillespie and Minister of International Trade Pierre Pettigrew to denounce this situation.  Ask EDC to withdraw its support of the corrupt Ralco project until the voice of the Mapuche people is heard.

Mr. Ian Gillespie

President and Chief Executive Officer

Export Development Canada

151 O’Connor

Ottawa, Ontario

K1A 1K3

The Honourable Pierre Pettigrew

Minister of International Trade

Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade

Lester B. Pearson Building

125 Sussex Drive

Ottawa, Ontario

K1A 0G2

SAMPLE LETTER

May 3, 2002

Dear Mr. Gillespie:

I am writing you today on behalf of the NGO Working Group on Export Development Canada to denounce the recent attempted kidnapping of indigenous community leader Sara Imilmaqui in Chile and demand EDC to withdraw its support of the Ralco dam project until the voice of the indigenous Mapuche people is heard.

On April 14, Sara Imilmaqui, 60-year old Mapuche leader and member of the Mapu Domuche Newen organization in Chile, fought off attempts to force her into the backseat of an unknown car.  This has not been the first case of harassment against Ms. Imilmaqui.  One month before, her home was broken into and her computer was stolen.  In 1998, she was followed and harassed by an unknown man, later identified as a Customs Officer.

The construction of this dam will negatively affect the Pehuenche people, the last Mapuche tribe to live a traditional, seasonal pastoralist lifestyle.  Without arable land and suitable areas to migrate within, their culture is at risk.  This project will flood 3,400 hectares of land, displace 600 people (400 of them are Pehuenche people), and threaten the existence of 50 animal and aquatic species. 

Despite court injunctions filed by the Pehuenche and environmental groups, the construction of Ralco is continuing illegally.  President Frei of Chile dismissed the director of the National Commission on the Environment in order that this agency would overturn its original ruling that the project was illegal and provide a permit to build the dam.  We are very disturbed to know that Canadians, through EDC support, are endorsing these blatantly corrupt activities.

We fear that the safety of Ms. Imilmaqui’s life is in danger, and we demand EDC to withdraw its support to the Ralco dam until the harassment against the Mapuche resistance stops and the project listens to the voice of the Mapuche people.

Yours sincerely,

Melanie Quevillon

Coordinator

NGO Working Group on the EDC