Part of the Mapuche, the Pehuenche's way of life would be terminated if the delayed project to build dams for electric power goes through and the river ends up being dammed.

ENDESA. the largest private company in Chile is planning to construct six hydroelectric dams on the Biobio river in southern Chile. ENDESA now says it will move ahead with construction of the largest of the Biobfo dam called Ralco. Ralco threatens to…

The Mapuche Situation, with Decree Law 2568 of 1979, the military regime of Pinochet provides for the extermination of Mapuche communal lands.

Traditional communities are subject to serious violations of their human rights since the military government was installed under General Pinochet in the bloody coup in 1973.

The on-going conflict between the inhuman dictatorship of General Pinochet and grassroots organizations continues to effect the Mapuche. On September 3, in Temuco, 300 miles south of Santiago, paramilitary commandos fired at the office of the Mapuche…

In August of 1985 Juan Francisco Fresno, Cardinal
of Santiago, issued the "National Agreement
for the Transition to a True Democracy" which
called for reconciliation and a move toward democacy.

"It has been more than two hundred years since the wars of Indian liberation led by
Tupak Amaru and Tupak Katari. A war of liberation ends when the cause of justice
triumphs, or when the enemy totally destroys the people.

The Mapuche people are one of the groups most affected by the extreme oppression with which the Military government deals with most of the Chilean population.

The Chilean government has convicted Mapuche people for the "illegal usurpation of land." The Chilean government have imposed harsh fines, which the Mapuche are attempting to appeal.

The Council of All Land announces the Second Tribunal of the Mapuche Nation to analyze the violations committed against the Mapuche nation.

This article depicts the efforts of the indigenous peoples as they protest the building of the Chilean Dam Project.

Peggy Lowry, a member of the SAIIC Committee, recently returned from a trip to Chile, where she had the opportunity to visit several Mapuche communities and organizations. In the following comments she talks about what she learned.