In a continued show of resistance, four elderly women of the Pehuenche nation are blocking the construction of a giant dam in Ralco by the Chilean and Spanish energy company Endesa. Indigenous peoples and environmentalists insist that the dam project means loss of life and livelihood for hundreds of indigenous people, and irreparable destruction of unique forest land. The dam is ninety per cent completed, and eighty-nine of the ninety-three families alleged to be affected have accepted compensation and agreed to resettle.
