June, 2003
For many years, the Pehuenche communities of the Alto BíoBío in southern Chile have been struggling against the construction of hydro-electric dams in their territories that would irreversibly disrupt their indigenous culture and destroy their ancestral lands.
The complaint filed with the CAO in July 2002 seeks concrete remedies to resolve outstanding issues arising out of IFC involvement in the Pangue/Ralco hydroelectric project in the Upper BioBio. Some of the claimants have been raising these issues for more than ten years and despite the introduction of social and environmental covenants to the loan agreement, the independent investigations that took place in 1996-1997 (Downing and Hair), and the agreement supposedly concluded in March of 1997 between the company and the IFC, these issues remain outstanding till this day.
Furthermore, the damages caused on the claimants that were detailed in the many communications with the Bank and in the complaint presented before the World Bank’s Inspection Panel in November 1995, far from being avoided or mitigated, have increased, affecting persons and communities in several parts of the basin and the country.
The publication is available in English here (it is also available in Spanish).
For more information, please contact Marcos Orellana.