News Categories Political News CHILE: ENRIQUEZ-OMINAMI SAYS “NO” TO HIDROAYSEN
| CHILE: ENRIQUEZ-OMINAMI SAYS “NO” TO HIDROAYSEN |
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| Written by Benajmin Witte | |
| Tuesday, 19 May 2009 | |
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“Greens” Endorse Upstart Chilean Presidential Contender HidroAysén is a joint venture created in 2006 by Chilean utility Colbún and Italian-owned electricity giant Endesa. Together the companies plan to build five massive dams in far southern Chile’s Region XI, an area of Patagonia also known as Aysén. If the largest energy project ever proposed in Chile, the HidroAysén plan, is approved by government environmental authorities, it would add a whopping 2,750 MW to Chile’s 9,000-MW central electricity grid. Despite HidroAysén’s attempt to sell the plan as a “Proyecto País,” or national priority, the dam project has attracted growing opposition over the past three years. Behind the banner “Patagonia sin Represas” (Patagonia without Dams), critics insist the project will destroy Patagonia’s pristine Baker and Pascua Rivers and open up the wilderness area to further industrial exploitation. The dams, furthermore, are unnecessary, insists the CDP. Instead of destroying two of its most breathtaking rivers, says the group, Chile could instead satisfy its electricity needs with non-traditional renewable sources – such as wind and solar – and by improving energy efficiency. Over the past two years the Patagonia sin Represas campaign has gradually raised its profile and helped swing public opinion against the dam project. A recent survey by the polling company Ipsos suggests that between April 2008 and April 2009, the percentage of Chileans opposing the HidroAysén project jumped from 37.4 percent to 57.6 percent (PT, April 20). The CDP has also attracted the support of several left-leaning politicians, including long-shot presidential contender Alejandro Navarro, a senator representing the Wide Social Movement (MAS), and Humanist Party leader Tomas Hirsch. The campaign has not, however, made much apparent headway with either of the two front-runners: conservative businessman Sebastian Piñera and Democratic Christian Sen. Eduardo Frei. This week’s declarations by Enriquez-Ominami, a 35-year-old Socialist Party deputy, may very well help bridge that gap – pushing the issue away from the political fringe and onto the presidential campaign’s center stage. “I’ve come out against HidroAysén not just because of the 2,000 kilometers of power lines (required to connect the dams to central Chile), or because of the numerous hectares that would be flooded, or because even more of (Chile’s electricity) supply would concentrated in the hands of Colbún and Endesa, but because the costs of HidroAysén are just too great,” Enriquez-Ominami told the Santiago Times. He added: “In terms of solutions, either the state subsidizes non-conventional renewable energies, which is a national decision, or goes forward with a coal-based solution, or we go with the idea that with both energy efficiency and non-conventional renewables Chile can avoid both coal and nuclear energy in 20 years. If the latter turns out to be possible, I’ll sign on right now.” A relative newcomer if not a genuine outsider, the outspoken Enriquez-Ominami has managed in recent weeks to gain something other third-party candidates have not: attention. The media, in fact, cannot seem to get enough of the young presidential contender, whose show business background, celebrity wife (television host Karen Doggenweiler) and well-known biography (he is the son of slain Chilean revolutionary Miguel Enríquez) certainly do not hurt his marketability. Two months ago Enriquez-Ominami barely registered on the political map. Polls now suggest as much as 14 percent of Chileans back him. A recent survey by UDD-La Segunda even had Enriquez-Ominami outpolling Frei in a hypothetical runoff election against Piñera. Before participating in the general election, however, the deputy must first collect 36,000 signatures from registered voters unaffiliated with a political party. It is by no means an easy task. So far Enriquez-Ominami, who has until Sept. 12 to gather the signatures, has accumulated just 5,000. The candidate is hoping his recent environmental overtures will help the process. On Tuesday he welcomed into his campaign two of Chile’s leading environmentalists: Sara Larraín of Chile Sustentable and Manuel Baquedano, president of Santiago’s Instituto Ecologia Politica. Both are members of the CDP. In exchange Chile’s Green Party (PE), formed in 2002 and legalized just last year, became the first political group to officially endorse him. “This year the (HidroAysén) project enters into its political phase,” said Baquedano, the PE’s vice president. “We’ve still got the heaviest hitters to go, who are (Sen. Adolfo) Zaldivar, who represents 4-5 percent of the vote and who is also a senator for Aysén, and of course Frei, who, like Piñera, has said he supports dams.” “The (anti-dam) campaign is going to back any candidate that is against (HidroAysén) and oppose all candidates who support the dams,” he added. “If we mobilize our supporters, we can make the dam project an issue that could eventually, in a tie-break runoff situation, be a decisive factor.” By Benjamin Witte ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) |
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| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 20 May 2009 ) |
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