Gunmen attacked a Chinese-owned hydroelectric plant under construction in Chile Sunday, setting fire to dozens of trucks and heavy earth-moving equipment, police said.
The Rucalhue power plant is being built by Rucalhue Energia Spa, a unit of China International Water and Electric Corporation (CWE), and is projected to cost $350 million.
It is being built along the Biobio, one of Chile’s main rivers, and is opposed by Indigenous people who say it will harm the environment.
Security guards at the job site said assailants with guns showed up and threatened them. They then “proceeded to burn all the equipment there was at the site,” said police chief Renzo Miccono.
The attackers burned 45 trucks and five pieces of earth-moving equipment, he said. Two security guards were wounded in the attack on the site, which is 550 kilometres (340 miles) south of Santiago.
China’s foreign ministry on Monday condemned the attack and said it had been in touch with Chilean officials on “concrete measures to protect the safety of Chinese companies’ projects and personnel.”
“The Chinese side… is willing to closely work with the Chilean side to carry out relevant investigations and follow-up actions,” spokesman Guo Jiakun told a news briefing.
Chilean Security Minister Luis Cordero told local media that given where and how the attack was carried out it was “of a terrorist nature.”
Rucalhue Energia Spa said the cost of the damage was being evaluated.
Norway also owns a hydroelectric power plant on a river in Chile, which is also firmly opposed by Mapuche people. My own stance is as always that it’s the Mapuche’s land and waterways — they have the natural right to decide what happens on their land; they have a natural right to resist by force if they are denied the first right; and they know best how these developments impact them and their local environment. It is important as always to remember that semi-peripheral non est peripheral, so I see no reason not to say that this is an example of China being stinky.
Edit: Of course, Mapuche people being opposed to the dam doesn’t necessarily mean it was Mapuche people behind this specific attack. Again, just as it’s important to remember that semi-peripheral non est peripheral, it’s equally important to remember that semi-peripheral non est core: I can just as easily see another exploiter higher up in the pecking order being behind this attack, over disliking China getting in on their turf.
I’m glad you added the edit because I was wondering if any Mapuche groups had taken credit. This seems like a pretty common sabotage technique that has been used a bunch against Chinese businesses in Africa
There are also several Mapuche organizations in Chile known to use arson, so it could go either way. No-one seems to have taken credit yet. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
I don’t see it reported anywhere online but BBC verbally reported at least some of them were in custody
Sic semper colonizers.
