Issue link: https://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/24995
If Endesa, Chile's largest energy compa ny, were to take out a help wanted ad, the copy might read as follows: "Industrialists seek tyrant to rule growing South American country. Military experience a plus." Back in the seventies and eighties, a giant like Endesa could count on a dictator like Augusto Pinochet to quash criticism of corporate chi canery-even if it meant "disappe· the critics. But much has changed since the country returned to civilian rule in 1990. Endesa finds itself under attack from a variety of protesters ranging from tie-dye clad environmentalists to government officials in Saville Row suits. At issue is Endesa's plan to construct six hydroelectric dams on the Bio Bfo River in South Central Chile. The dams-the first of which, the Pangue, was completed last year-would generate more power then a modern nuclear plant, as well as slew of new jobs. That's what the project's proponents claim. But environmentalists warn that even one more new dam may sully drinking water for a million peQple, endanger 54 species of animals and displace hundreds of Pehuenche Indians, one of the few indigenous peoples in Chile that survived the swords of Conquistadors. Political opponents add that Chile doesn't need the electricity and that Endesa will likely export surplus power to the country's megawatt-hungry neighbors. What no one disputes is that another dam will turn much of the coursing river-long a haven of rafters and naturalists-into a mammoth reservoir. Gone forever will be dozens of breathtaking waterfalls, dramatic mountain canyons, as well as some of the most chal lenging rapids in the world. Although Endesa has already clear-cut the site of the Ralco, the next dam, the aring" some of company's construction have apparently have run into rough water. The Chilean government recently passed two laws giving the Pehuenche Indians more say over what happens to their homeland, and the World Bank-which supposedly wields influence over the utility, having loaned it 150 million dollars for the Pengue refused to help Endesa raise the 500 million dollars needed to build the Ralco. In fact, the public outcry about the project spurred World Bank President James Wolfensohn to review his organization's relationship with Endesa. Word leaked that Wolfensohn then threatened Endesa with default because it had not, as promised, com pleted an environmental impact assessment of the Pangue. Endesa's answer: a $150 million check made out to the World Bank, which erased the company's debt. "Endesa will circumvent any law and find new investors to build the Ralco," lamented Mike Borcik, spokesperson for Mountain Travel-Sobek, a tour operator that has organized rafting trips on the Bio-Bio for many years. "Look what happens in the U.S. where we have a more active voice in government," continued Borcik, "soon, they'll be drilling for oil in the Arctic National Park in Alaska. When push comes to shove, no mat ter where you are, money talks."-David Wallis photos: michael r. stoklos