"Did an ENDESA worker ever come to your house and get you to sign a paper... without legal advice?" "Actually, yes." "They came many times to get us to sign that paper." "I couldn't believe at first, when dealing with them..." "I never thought I was signing a false document." "It is a valid document, to them at least." "Right, for them it is." "Can you read?" " Yes." "Did you read the papers they asked you to sign?" "Well, it wasn't me who signed." "They got my father to sign, because he owns the house and the transferred lands." "I just assist my father." "When my father didn't read the papers, they came round to see him as soon as we agreed to negotiate." "They often came to see if my father was alone." "I had to go to work, and I was working when it all started." "I was away..." "So they came when he was alone and got him to sign a document." "That's the way they acted in this region." "Against the Pehuenche-Mapuche people's" "This land belongs to our people, the Mapuche." "This is our original homeland, and we feel that..." "this country belongs to us;" "that usurpers have temporarily taken over our land." "Why?" "Because our history tells us so." "We have resisted all invasions of our land." "There has never been a Mapuche state." "There was a nation that defended itself against the Inca invasions;" "first we defeated them, and then the greatest ever colonial empire: the Spanish." "Chile was called the Spaniards' cemetery because they came here to die." "They had the bad idea of trying to conquer us." "And they came up against people that knew... how to use all their strength." "We are the only people in America who did not yield to them;" "the only people who were recognized as a nation by the Spanish Crown." "We signed 18 international treaties with Spain." "The Crown signed treaties with the Mapuche nation, laying down territory, space, jurisdictions, etc." "In the whole of America, they only signed with our people." "40,000 Spaniards died in Chile:" "more than in all the Spanish conquests of America, or in any other territory the Spaniards conquered." "It was its worst experience." "Chile was the only place (Leader Mapuche) where the conquest's chief, Pedro de Valdivia, was... judged, captured, condemned and executed by our people." "Valdivia was condemned as a war criminal for what he did to our children and to our wives, and our people in general." "And he was punished as any war criminal deserves." "Just as Hitler," "Goebbles, Himmler would have been..." "or any other criminal." "That's how our people learned about resistance." "And suffering, of course." "We lost about 95% of our population in the fight for resistance against the Spanish Crown and later the Chilean state." "Today we not only defend ourselves against the Chilean state, but we have gradually realized that our enemies, our adversaries, are capitalism and multinational companies." "The important decisions, affecting this country's major sectors, are taken in Spain, the USA, Japan, New Zealand... or on the stock markets of NY, Tokyo... or anywhere else." "What we have in Chile are servile politicians who answer to these huge economies and this economic model that plunders our natural resources, and wants to move further into Mapuche ancestral land, condemning us to a slow genocide." "The opulence of the European economy is financed by my people's misery and that of many people in America, Africa and elsewhere, what is known as the Third World." "Just as before, we finance the material progress of European capitalism." "American gold and silver laid the foundation of the world's capitalist system." "But we pay the price." "64 million of us paid for Europe's opulence." "Humanity's worst genocide took place in America." "The owner of our largest river is the ENDESA consortium of Spain." "The land stretching from here to the sea, doesn't even belong to the Chilean state." "It is another case of the state selling land and natural resources to the highest bidder." "ENDESA can no longer be considered an adversary... but an enemy of our people." "A situation directly affecting 100,000's of people's lives." "In this case they simply flooded land and culture, exterminating what had been here for thousands of years." "So ENDESA is considered as an enemy of our people, and responsible for the genocide of the Pehuenche culture in this area." "National leader of the SEU (Fascist Students' Union)." "Civil Governor of Barcelona during Franco's military dictatorship." "Deputy of the right-wing party PP, in José Maria Aznar's presidency." "Head of the commission on the "Prestige" disaster." "President of ENDESA." "RODOLFO MARTIN VILLA President of ENDESA" "We definitely want to be part of a full and transparent enquiry, but today we cannot say anything." "We have a saying in my country:" ""It is better to utter no words, than to stutter."" "Hello?" " Hi." "This is Manuel from Barcelona." "Ms. Beatriz Monreal?" "Yes, hold on a minute." " Alright." "Yes, hello, how are you?" "So, how about the interview?" "Manuel, it's very complicated." "I couldn't get hold of him today." "And I was trying to see who else you could interview but no-one knows the subject like him." "No, it has to be him." "Yes, he's definitely the person to talk to." "There are very few of us, and he is the perfect spokesman." "He explains it in detail." " Well..." "But I'll try to talk to him." "I'll do my best, but he's got a presentation in the US." "He'll be going away soon." "Let me see if I can catch him." "I can't promise you anything." "The truth is that he is always away from Chile." "He spends so much time abroad." "I can't promise you anything." "Let me check his agenda." "Maybe he'll be here one day after Santiago..." "OK, thanks a lot, Beatriz." "We have a saying in my country:" ""It is better to utter no words, than to stutter.."" "Mapuche Territory" "Student" "For those Mapuches, wherever they may be," "I would like to share my thoughts on what the ENDESA corporation means to our people." "We are Mapuches, and though some of us seem to ignore it, many others continue to fight to restore their identity." "For those far from their community, remember your grandparents' words:" ""Never forget who you are nor where you come from, as this is what you are made of." "Do not be drawn into the white man's, the Winka's, society, as this will be our death." "We must not allow the white man, the Winka, and his corporations to fatally wound nature as they did with our ancestors." "We must not contribute to its loss, nor to that of our people." "We are alive and our ancestors' force will always be with us, and we must fight for the future of our generations to come."" "Building the Ralco power station was a political and symbolic act," "Lawyer the indigenous people's test on the Chilean democratic government, to see if a new relationship was possible between them, in particular for the Mapuche people." "One option for the state was to respect the existence of the last place, where 7 Pehuenche communities lived in the upper mountains, completely isolated from Chile, as they believe that Chile ends in Santa Barbara," "18km away, towards the valley, in the foothills, but finally they saw that Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle's government chose to protect its own interests above those of indigenous people." "Building the Ralco power station caused the socio-cultural loss of two indigenous communities, Quepuca Ralco and Ralco Lepoy, living along the highlands of a tributary of the ecologically and politically significant River Biobio, that had marked the frontier of the Spanish occupation." "The Spaniards had not conquered the Mapuches south of the river." "Here, better than anywhere else, traditions, culture and the Mapudungun language had been kept alive." "With the construction plans for the Ralco power station in 1997, the total invasion" "of this completely isolated and unknown land took place." "According to the indigenous law, the only way to relocate families was to transfer land ownership;" "land in exchange for land." "For that, ENDESA needed to obtain permission from each family." "At first many believed the power station would not be built, as it required every family's consent, and they weren't willing to agree." "When ENDESA went there, they tricked many people." "At first they said:" ""It will be good for you." "The quality of your lives will change." "A good house, good beds... good kitchen, good everything"." "Even animals and more land." "That's what they were saying and people believed them." "They came to my house, my brother's and my sister's houses." "They said to me:" ""Mrs. Nicolasa, you live alone." "You need work." "ENDESA will help you work." "We will provide you with anything you need." "We'll give you oxen, tools, ploughs, chains, anything you need to work the land." "That's what they were saying..." "But not in my house." "I did not like it." "I replied angrily:" ""Those are fine words." "You just want to rip us off, the Pehuenche." "You need to widen the river Biobio, to get a your hands on that area." "But we are the owners of the Biobio." "We look after it, and we live there." "And we must protect it." "You can't come to my house to tell me what I need." "I might be what I am..." "I might be poor, whatever, but I am in my house... where I grew up, where I was born." "So leave now." "Go and piss on somebody else." "And they left." "That's how I treated them." "The fact that 2 economic groups currently control the press in Chile affects society as a whole." "It affects the Mapuche community even more, because they fight the state and its investment plans." "But many are still unaware of what is happening in their country." "The ENDESA case is exemplary, as many people think it is Chilean," "Director of Azkintuwe newspaper and that it brings progress to the current energy crisis." "But few know ENDESA is a multinational, and all it wants is to turn Chile into Latin America's biggest energy producer." "No one is aware of this, because the press works for international corporations." "We went to the Alto Biobio to interview people and to tell of what happened and what is happening in this region." "We encountered endless stories that filled us with shame for how the state and ENDESA treated these communities." "I would seriously say that, from 1997, ENDESA has occupied Alto Biobio." "No Chilean authority is present:" "just ENDESA." "There is a case which illustrates this dramatically:" "Don Segundo Alamán's." "An old indigenous man, blind and illiterate." "They got him to sign one agreement to transfer his lands." "As he was interviewed by CONADI's first director he heard what he had signed and said it did not express his wishes." "Legally this document was absolutely null and void... null and void." "It is not for this government to stop or start any activity." "We are in a constitutional state in which..." "Constitutional state!" "Wretch!" "Bastard!" "This is Mapuche land!" "Bastards!" "The Mapuche are there, sucker, better believe it!" "The National Indigenous Committee enacted the Indigenous Law in 1993." "It is a mediator between the state and indigenous people, but it is a state institution;" "(Deputy of the Socialist Party) the director of CONADI is appointed by the President." "The director of the Indigenous Development Corporation, appointed by Frei to replace the former director, was openly against the power station, calling it a genocide..." "This director had the land exchange agreement handed to him by ENDESA:" "an irregular procedure in itself because it came from ENDESA and not the indigenous people." "He decided to check with each family." "He realized they did not want to transfer the land at all." "He quotes a meeting of CONADI's National Council of on 6 August, but on 5 August, the second director was dismissed by President Frei." "5 months went by without a director." "A 3rd director was appointed:" "a Chilean with no indigenous blood, and 2 months later he won approval for the 1st land exchange without a single Indigenous councilor's vote." "It's Manuel from Barcelona." "How are you?" "I wanted to call but today was a bad day." "He's not at the office this week." "I can't get you the interview." "And the head of public relations?" "He's not... available either." "I don't understand why it's so hard." "Manuel, I've done everything I could." "But he's against having someone here talking to you." "He's a spokesman but doesn't like to talk." "I went down on my knees, but they won't." "But who are they talking about?" "The Chilean media?" "Exactly, the Chilean media." "But it's the same, they won't talk about this subject." "After what happened they decided to talk about it in general terms, and only occasionally." "Especially for television." "If you ask me something and I reply, then you could say:" ""ENDESA said such and such..."" "You see?" " Sure." "But you said the manager could talk to me, about the environmental policy." "I tried." "All I can try now is if you send me your questions." "What is ENDESA's environmental policy?" "Is that all?" " Yes, that's all." "If that's all, then let me try." "If you want details about the power station, what they have done there... let me know, and we'll prepare it." "OK, I'll call back and we'll see." "OK?" "ENDESA Shareholders Board" "They're ripping my clothes!" "They won't let me in!" "Another group bought ENDESA shares, just two per person, around 500 pesos, (82 cents) in order to enter the meeting." "But they were still asked not to take part in the assembly." "Later some Mapuche presented the meeting with their viewpoint." "We are defending what is ours." "We cannot let them trample all over us!" "We can't!" "We must defend ourselves!" "Later, the meeting went ahead as planned." "The President of Chile had made a deal with ENDESA long before." "They were in it together." "Two heads as one." "What could the Pehuenche do?" "They were already sold." "Eduardo Frei was the one." "The one that signed." "The electricity legislation took precedence over indigenous law." "This was very clear at the end of Frei's term, when the fight was between Indigenous Law vs. Electricity law:" "the law could have been abolished, which violates art. 13, stipulating that indigenous homes cannot be flooded or touched." "That is, it protected them regardless of the circumstances." "This was no longer the case, and all the government's technical organizations decided that this dwelling-place was not protected" "and could be flooded." "This was the end of the already meager protection of the Indigenous Law, and the advent of the electricity law's reign." "All of which happened at the end of Frei's term." "Much went on behind the scenes:" "many were under pressure by the government, who took executive decisions, ordering technicians to go against their beliefs, in order to protect their jobs." "It had a very negative psychological effect, a deep sense of a lack of protection." "It was very hard to fight both the state and a corporation as big as ENDESA." "(Lawyer)" "It coincided with the detention of Pinochet in London, under orders from the Spanish magistrate Garzón." "ENDESA was particularly important because president Villa became the Chilean government's interlocutor to persuade Garzon to desist from the Pinochet proceedings." "ENDESA not only has a multinational's power, but also a great influence on the Chilean government, to the degree that Villa was decorated." "The mass of the Andes shelters the relentless work of hundreds of men from all over the country, seeking the energy held in the waters of this ancestral river." "They've brought powerful machines, in long trips wrought with difficulties." "Thousands of millions of cubic meters of water, over 3000 GWatts of energy in the Ralco, has convinced them." "This could be a basic defense." "The Ralco dam has progressed quickly and with determination." "A few months ago the turbines were installed with great precision." "We are 150 m under the mountain, in the machine room." "It reaches 110 m high, as high as a 15-storey building." "The resistance is fierce." "This morning, hundreds of Pehuenche blocked the lorry carrying the power station transformers to be installed." "5 long hours of driving." "And in a very short time things got even worse." "We want to sit down and seriously discuss the re-housing of the Pehuenche in the Alto Biobio, listening to them as well." "Sit down with them." "The minister affirmed that the government will not negotiate with groups that prefer arms to dialogue." "Leaving the endless tunnels, the outside landscape is impressive." "Even more so when the changes accompany the steps of the Pehuenche horseman who welcomes them as part of the landscape." "There is no reason for us to be concerned." "Regarding Ralco," "I believe that the security forces acted in the logical manner of a constitutional state." "I want to see your swollen body... floating down the river!" "Words don't ease the pain!" "Our lack of interest worries you!" "You dream too much, old fart!" "We wouldn't vote for you for shit." "I want to see your swollen body... floating down the river!" "I want..." "I want our Southern rivers to run wild!" "Don't put your Christian hands on our most sacred lands" "If you turn your backon the Mapuche, you'll see the power that protects you won't last long, won't last long, you'll see!" "The curse on the land will sink you and will crush your soul, your soul, your soul..." "A group of secret policemen stopped me at the Santiago bus station, just as I was about to catch the bus, and took me away." "They didn't tell me why I was arrested, just that they had an arrest warrant for me, and took me to a place 150 km away from Temuco, in the north." "Arriving in the city of Traiguén, late on Saturday night, they questioned me about the role" "I played in this film production." "Who were they?" "What were they doing in Chile?" "There is no doubt that the production's phones were being tapped." "And mine too." "Otherwise, they couldn't have known about my movements in the area." "It's not easy to get members of the autonomous Mapuche movement to talk, as it could be used as evidence against them, and today sentences (Leader Mapuche) vary between 5-15 years of jail." "With this form of legal repression, using our statements to the press and public declarations against us, they rob us of our basic freedom of expression, our right to make our views known and to explain why part of this" "Mapuche movement is taking action to confront the economic system." "And then, 30 % of the statements used in evidence against us come from anonymous, hooded witnesses, who testify against members of the Mapuche movement, rebels and leaders." "Without knowing their identity, the defense cannot counter them nor disqualify them." "So there is no impartiality in the tribunal proceedings and we feel discriminated against." "The means used are arbitrary and our leaders have been sentenced as a result." "Not to mention the tapping of Mapuche leaders' phones and their lawyers'." "There have even been cases, when the defense attorneys have agreed to a common defense, where the prosecution has found out the defense attorneys' strategy, and used it against them." "FREE ALL MAPUCHE" "POLITICAL PRISONERS" "TERRITORY AND SELF-DETERMINATION" "Concepción's Court of Appeal condemned Mapuche leader," "Victor Ancalaf, to a year and a day for terrorist arson and unlawful conspiracy." "The trial began in November 2001 following the burning of a truck, belonging to a firm hired by ENDESA." "Victor went round in person, he went there to help the man." "So he was already there, he was always coming and going and that's why they charged him." "But what happened?" " I don't know." "The policeman agent knows." "That's what the witness said but nobody knows..." "The policeman said so," "ENDESA said it was him who burned the truck and that's it." "ENDESA did it, but they won't admit it." "They charged him because he was from there." "The Flame for Freedom was lit by the dictator Augusto Pinochet" "Mapuche Spokeswoman in hiding" "I spent a year and 2 months in prison." "I'm accused of unlawful terrorist conspiracy and terrorist arson." "The charges were made in 2001, they were responsible for the fire and allegedly" "I physically took part." "These are the 2 charges brought against me, alongside 11 brothers, for this fire." "And for unlawful conspiracy, 18 of us are being charged." "The 2 charges are different but both come under the anti-terrorist law." "I was held for a year and 2 months." "We got out on bail." "While awaiting trial we studied the new procedural law reform." "Signing on every Friday, we continued preparing ourselves for the hearings, until we decided to be fugitives from the law." "I went into hiding, a month ago now with 6 other brothers." "Our lives are in peril, we are in danger." "Everyone is chasing us:" "the Carabinero police, investigators..." "We are persecuted." "We could die at any time." "They might even kill us, because they never identify themselves as policemen or part of an investigation." "They drive around, without warrants or police identification..." "How do I know where I planted a bomb, how many I killed?" "I don't know." "Show me the dead, for I haven't done anything." "My hands have no blood on them." "This is what we can't understand- why do they accuse us, why do they accuse us of terrorism." "That is why we decided to be fugitives from the law, not to go to the Chilean courts." "We do not acknowledge Chilean justice just as they do not acknowledge our rights." "In our trials the witnesses are hooded, their faces covered, their voices distorted." "They testify in a room separate from ours." "We don't even know what they are saying so we cannot defend ourselves." "Not even our lawyers have access to their statements." "This experience has been so exasperating that we concluded that our trial was not fair." "Our case was unprecedented:" "we had 41 anonymous witnesses." "We are living in a feudal age." "I don't know how many years we'll last," "I hope we'll endure all these years in hiding and avoid going to prison." "That's our only hope." "I don't know what will happen to us." "Our future is uncertain." "How long we'll hold out, I don't know." "And what about going into exile?" "I don't know." "I hope it might be possible." "But it would be painful for the Mapuche to have to leave our homeland." "They've already taken everything away from us, so much." "This would be the limit for us." "To have to leave our homeland, our people, it would be this country's greatest dishonour if the Mapuche had to go into exile." "WE DEMAND FREEDOM FOR MIREYA FIGUEROA" "A Mapuche leader has never ever been arrested in possession of a firearm." "Those who threaten the community, who appeal for peace, who drive around at night in trucks with large-bore weapons, are the farmers of the new region." "The police know who they are, the Home Office knows as well, but to date, none of them have ever been taken to court." "They accuse the Mapuche of terrorism because they carry slings and sticks." "They are accused of setting fire to pastureland." "Today, many are condemned to 5 years imprisonment;" "much more than for an official crime." "5 years for burning a shed or a house." "Their responsibility was not sufficiently proven, and after a preliminary hearing they were found innocent." "This is why we are going to the International Court to have Chile condemned by the International Human Rights Tribunal." "The truth is that Chile is enviable as a constitutional state with reliable norms and good politicians, good governors, good administrators, good judges, clean, independent judges, that anybody wanting to invest here can trust in." "The expectation of the 8-day trial of" "Pascual Pichun, Aniseto Norin and Patricia Troncoso for the crimes of arson and terrorist menace." "Finally the court acquitted the accused of the charges:" "a hard blow to the Home Office who had brought 40 witnesses to testify, including the highly topical secret witnesses and well-known landowners affected by arson attacks;" "such as the owner of the farm in question, the former Agriculture Minister," "Juan Agustin Figueroa." "This figure did not agree with (Lawyer) these chiefs being found innocent and complained to the Supreme Court." "The Supreme Court ordered a re-trial that found them guilty, and sentenced them under the Terrorist Act." "Pleased to meet you." "Welcome." "He was a key witness at the trial of leaders Pichún and Norin." "It was his decision to go to the Supreme Court in Santiago, where they sentenced these leaders on hearsay and not fact." "Because he said that he firmly believed that there was a terrorist menace." "A leader talks and worries about it afterwards." "That is a lonko, a leader." "Lonko Pichún's wife" "I am María Collianao," "Lonko Pichún's wife." "He is in prison because of slanderous rumours." "Slanderous rumours blamed him for burning" "Mr. Figueroa's house..." "We settled in the Mapuche region over 60 years ago." "We are on friendly terms, we work together, protect each other mutually, but this quickly deteriorates when people who we are fond of and consider friends suddenly become enemies." "They raided the house, broke all the windows, every one." "The house was left with just the wood, nothing else." "I have two grandsons." "When they see a policeman they are afraid." "They are terrified." "Did they hit them?" " Yes, they hit them." "They dragged him out, you know how it goes, they beat him and hit him... the works." "Traditionally we know no terrorism." "It is foreign to us." "I think the Chilean state reacted with significant force in its repression via the courts, in accordance with the constitutional law, and those that actually committed acts of terrorism have been imprisoned, and they were surprised." "He is still involved in our trial." "They already sentenced the leader, but he continues with our charges of unlawful terrorist conspiracy and he's still testifying." "They already sentenced 2 Mapuches, does he want to sentence 18 more?" "What does he want?" "To exterminate our people?" "He is a very powerful and influential figure, whose arguments are very persuasive." "He is currently President of the Pablo Neruda Foundation" "Neruda being a full member of the Chilean Communist Party." "He heads this Foundation and it is completely impossible to end his mandate, as he benefits from a status that allows no-one to depose him." "He is practically the same as Pinochet... a life senator." "As President of the Pablo Neruda Foundation, one of Latin America's - if not the world's - best known poets," "I would like you to recite one of his poems, whichever one you like." "Former Agriculture Minister." "Minister of the Constitutional Tribunal" "That's a hard one." "V There is nothing further from the ideals of Pablo Neruda than the figure of Juan Agustin Figueroa." "He is the antithesis of everything that Pablo Neruda was searching for in his poetry." "There was a cemetery there." "All of our relatives were buried there." "Not just ours or our family's," "Leader Mapuche but most of the community's." "We set a date for another meeting that members of CONADI were coming to." "We had the meeting." "But before they came, they started to fill the lake." "They shut the sluice gate." "ENDESA got in ahead." "And yet, when the CONADI director arrived, he said they had no authorization to fill the lake." "A long time ago, before, the Mapuches were buried on the riverbanks." "There were 14 cemeteries on the banks of the Biobio." "14 very old Pehuenche cemeteries, that were like temples." "They were buried there:" "now they are flooded with water." "Many authorities turned up, right there, where the lake is now." "The United Nations' observer too." "We showed them." "We dug it up for them." "There were bones." "A whole skull." "The teeth were all there." "There were even coffins." "It is very painful for us:" "to see a lake over our ancestors." "They were living relatives from our land." "They were chiefs, authorities of the community." "It is very painful for us." "If we put a lake over their ancestors, they definitely would not like it either." "It is painful." "What are they taking out?" "It's a warehouse that was left over, where people used to live." "It's floated up in the water, so they are getting it out so it doesn't damage the dam." "ENDESA made deals with the people," "ENDESA bought it, did business..." "That's all." "Hello, ENDESA." "Beatriz Monreal please." "One moment please." "ENDESA is a multinational that owns 67% of the water in Chile." "There is a lot of water in Chile." "Over 67% of it does not belong to Chile but to a foreign company." "This gives them the power to influence the market, because in Chile's electricity market only existing members can let new members in, it is a centralized monopoly." "And so, while the system remains the same, and above all, the strength of the Electricity Act is undefeated, hydroelectric power will remain contaminated, providing a basis for the violation of human rights." "I took part in the final negotiations of the amicable agreement before the Inter American Commission, and one point stipulated was that we talk directly to ENDESA." "The Indigenous family face to face with ENDESA's management, led by Mr. Hector Lopez, currently the DG." "But the possibilities for dialogue were practically nil." "A very tall Spaniard, very ill-natured, one might have said a Spanish career soldier:" "pitiless, impossible, unbelievably, unusually rude." "The last attempt at dialogue with him took place at the governmental palace, where Minister Huenchumilla, the only indigenous minister there," "upon request of the President, summoned the Indigenous family and ENDESA's management, to try to come to an agreement on the material damages to be paid to the families." "And this man, incredibly insolent when talking to a minister of state, the General Secretary of the President of the Republic, with his hands in his pockets, leaning backwards, said: "I'm not going to make any stupid deals."" "A vulgar man, arrogant." "To the point that, just a few days ago, there was an incident:" "The Chilean Minister of the Exchequer told him:" ""If you don't like it, the doors are plenty wide enough for you to leave by."" "This was our interlocutor, there were no means for dialogue." "He only understood the language of money." "He did not understand the language of respect, of love for others." "Sadly this is a new language, making our struggle harder." "But we must go on." "Barco:" "Land exchanged by ENDESA to the Mapuche. 2000 meters altitude." "I transferred my land 4 or 5 years ago." "I'm not sure of the exact date, but we've been here about 5 years, about 5 years." "We were wrong." "We signed right away without thinking." "We didn't have the right attitude, and no-one to tell us what to do, because we don't know how to negotiate." "No-one knew because no-one had done this before." "We needed someone to help us adapt, someone to open our eyes for us." "We would have made a better deal." "It was a one-off opportunity." "That's what we needed." "We were afraid too, because we, the Pehuenche, had no contact with the authorities, and didn't know" "about drawing up documents." "This is the house that ENDESA gave us." "We are a bit... we're satisfied, but I still don't think it will last for long." "The roof is not solid," "I don't think it's made very well." "All the houses here are leaking." "None of the roofs are made of wood, they're made of something called" ""as land", and I think it's rotting." "Sadly we are suffering here..." "In winter the animals have no cover, they stay in the fields." "We have no place to keep them." "We ask them:" "Why don't you give us 1 or 2 barns?" "No, the project does not provide for that, there is no money." "So why did we negotiate if ENDESA has no money?" "Why should we make a deal with you, if you are as poor as us." "There's no deal in that case." "Winter is really bad." "When there is a lot of snow, there is not much land left." "We are only happy in summer because the field is big." "Right now we are in between, with light snow, not knowing how much will fall," "and if we'll be in danger." "They gave us..." "money, in notes:" "1 million 8 hundred (2500$) and 820 for the transfer." "When they gave me 720 I said:" "Give me 100 more, this is not enough." "What is 820 (1000$)?" "Nothing." "We had to buy furniture." "They didn't give me any - we bought it all with the money." "They just gave us these relics:" "a wood stove, a bad quality sink." "Everything is falling to pieces." "We had 41 hectares each, plus the common goods." "Apart from the house, how much money did ENDESA give you?" "Um... 800." "800 ($1000)?" "Yes." "I believe that until last year you didn't have electricity?" "No, we used candles to light the house." "How long were you using candles?" " About 3 years." "And now we're paying, and ENDESA say they never made any promises." "The promise was what they said, and they said they would provide free electricity." "4 years without electricity - we've been here 5 already." "We've had electricity for a year, and we are paying for it." "We started to pay right away." "The problem is that we didn't draw up an agreement in front of them." "They said they would connect everyone within a year." "But they said, "you have it easy." "You have better land, and animals."" "The animals were ours!" "Not theirs!" "So what's going on here?" "We are selling the animals to pay for the electricity." "Everyone is doing the same." "Every month they come to read the meters, with 3 unpaid bills... on the 4th, they cut us off if we don't pay." "You get used to it... it hardly gives out any light, but you get used to it and we have the little fire." "To save candles we have paraffin, we made little paraffin lamps." " Hello?" " Beatriz?" "Do you remember me?" " Yes, of course." "Well, I sent you an email with the questions." "You had to study them." "I thought there wasn't a problem." "And then you reply that Mr. Jara isn't there, and that this is one of the reasons why he can't be interviewed;" "but there are others." "Yes." "But actually he doesn't want to be interviewed." "He doesn't want to anymore." "There are internal reasons for that." "Why?" "I don't really understand why." "Is it maybe to do with Ralco?" "I don't know." "That might be why, I don't know." "Right." "What actually happened with Ralco?" "I don't really know much about it." "It's about the Indigenous Act, that says you can't buy land from them, it has to be an exchange of land, transferred land." "Right." "B.M. In charge of press relations at ENDESA" "But they finally came to an agreement." "It wasn't as if the government helped ENDESA, but it endorsed it so that an agreement could be reached and the power station built." "And the land transfers with the Pehuenche gave them lots of benefits." "The list is long but they all got houses, land..." "B. M. In charge of press relations at ENDESA and cultural aspects..." "Cultural aspects too?" " Of course." "Look, this plan began in 1997, 1998, but it's continuing for ten years." "The power station is built, but we are still helping them." "With Ralco you could say that the Electricity Act was more important than the Indigenous Act?" "Well, they always said that the Electricity Act came first, or that it was a question of one Act conflicting with the other." "But no." "It depends on the legal interpretation you prefer." "It's basic." "But the Indigenous Act is not the Electricity Act." "And the Indigenous people are Chileans." "Right." "So they have to try..." "Except," "I don't know if they feel Chilean." "But that's really their problem." "They don't have their own laws." "They live according to Chilean law." "It ended up being a question of setting the Indigenous Act against the Electricity Act." "But that wasn't it." "At the end of the day, they live in Chile." "There is no state called Pehuenche or Mapuche." "Right." "And you think the problem is that no-one wants to talk about that?" "It could be." "The only thing I can say," "Manuel, is that I'm sorry." "It bothers me a lot, because they tell me one thing and then another." "It would have been a lot easier to have said no from the start." "But big companies are like that..." "It ended a long time ago, but there are things that will never be forgotten, no matter how much time passes." "1582, the sun never set on our Empire." "I love that phrase." "With the Austrian and Bourbon dynasties we lost all our possessions" "That has to change:" "our grandchildren deserve it." "The story repeats itself over and over again." "Our national team is winning:" "Spain is crushing Yugoslavia, scoring 20 goals." "Destinations are changing:" "from Cuba they go directly to the Canary Islands;" "they no longer go to Florida." "Bad times for McDonald's:" "the Spanish omelette has won." "In Las Vegas they no longer play black jack, but Spanish cinquillo;" "and the in colours are red and yellow." "Once more, we'll become an Empire..." "Once more, we'll become an Empire..." "Once more, we'll become an Empire..." "Once more, we'll become an Empire..." ""This film is dedicated to all Mapuche political prisoners."" "Subtitles ripped  converted by Haller for RebeldeMule.org"