Transnational Enclosures Threaten Patagonia

Patagonia, one of the most distinctive ecological regions of South America, is now threatened by a series of major dams that the Chilean government is planning. The chief purpose of the dams is to supply electricity to copper mines, two-thirds of which are owned by transnational corporations whose allegiances are to international investors and pay little for the copper they extract. Writing at Corrupt.org, Felipe Serra explains that the dams will not only flood some 15,000 acres of land, they will require the construction of high-tension power lines across 1,400 miles (to get the electricity to the mines). The project will destroy a priceless landscape and intrude on protected national parks and indigenous reservoirs. It will also threaten wildlife and rural economies that depend upon agriculture and tourism.