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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 21 BRASILIA 000096 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT PASS USAID TO LAC/RSD, LAC/SAM, G/ENV, PPC/ENV 
TREASURY FOR USED IBRD AND IDB AND INTL/MDB 
USDA FOR FOREST SERVICE: LIZ MAHEW 
INTERIOR FOR DIR INT AFFAIRS: K WASHBURN 
INTERIOR FOR FWS: TOM RILEY 
INTERIOR PASS USGS FOR INTERNATIONAL: J WEAVER 
JUSTICE FOR ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL 
RESOURCES: JWEBB 
EPA FOR INTERNATIONAL: CAM HILL-MACON 
USDA FOR ARS/INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH: G FLANLEY 
NSF FOR INTERNATIONAL: HAROLD STOLBERG 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV EAGR EAID TBIO ECON SOCI XR BR
SUBJECT: SOUTH AMERICA ESTH NEWS, NUMBER 87 
 
BRASILIA 00000096  001.2 OF 021 
 
 
¶1.  The following is the eighty-seventh in a 
series of newsletters, published by the Brasilia 
Regional Environmental Hub, covering environment, 
science and technology, and health news in South 
America.  The information below was gathered from 
news sources from across the region, and the 
views expressed do not necessarily reflect those 
of the Hub office or our constituent posts. 
Addressees who would like to receive a user- 
friendly email version of this newsletter should 
contact Larissa Stoner at stonerla@state.gov. 
The e-mail version also contains a calendar of 
upcoming ESTH events in the region. 
 
¶2. Table of Contents 
 
Agriculture 
--(3)Transgenic Cotton Ploughs Its Way through 
Brazilian Congress 
 
Health 
--(4)Chile: Too Much Lead in Portezuelo 
--(5)Developing Nations Eligible for European 
Funding 
--(6)Revolutionary New Aids Drug Tested In Chile 
--(7)Plans Promotes Traditional Medicine in 
Andean Countries 
 
Water Issues 
--(8)Water Crisis is Big Test for Peru's 
President 
Forests 
--(9)Two Timber Firms Pretending To Be 'Green,' 
Groups Allege 
--(10)Are Brazil Nuts Really Sustainable? 
--(11)Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest Bill is 
Approved 
 
Wildlife 
--(12)Galapagos: Where Eradication and 
Conservation Meet 
--(13)Colombian Security Gains Aid Field Research 
--(14)Venezuela: Birds Blamed for Arrival of West 
 
BRASILIA 00000096  002.2 OF 021 
 
 
Nile Virus 
 
Fishing & Marine Conservation 
--(15)Recife Shark Attacks Part of a Broader 
Problem? 
--(16)Trout Aquaculture Booming in Peru 
 
Protected Areas 
--(17)Paraguay has new Protected Wetland Area 
 
Science & Technology 
--(18)Survey Shows Dire State of Colombian R&D 
 
Climate Change 
--(19)Arlington Takes On Global Warming 
--(20)U.S. Wants Polar Bears Listed As Threatened 
 
Energy 
--(21)U.S. Oil Firm Signs Contract for Ethanol 
Plant in Peru 
--(22)In the Global Energy Rush, Nuclear Gets a 
Resurgence 
--(23)Controversial Chile Dam Project Inches 
Ahead 
--(24)Argentina Announces 2.3-Billion-Dollar Fuel 
Refinery Project 
--(25)Brazil to Test Hybrid Fuel-Cell and 
Battery-Powered Buses 
--(26)U.S. Environmental Group Opposes Aisen 
Project in Chile 
 
General 
--(27)Sustainable Enterprise in Brazil 
--(28)New Coca Spat Leaves Colombia Flying Solo 
--(29)Binational Barrick Mine Wins Key Approval 
--(30)Critics of Nuclear Accord Win a Round in 
Argentina 
 
----------- 
Agriculture 
----------- 
 
¶3. Transgenic Cotton Ploughs Its Way through 
 
BRASILIA 00000096  003.2 OF 021 
 
 
Brazilian Congress 
 
DEC. 28, 2006 - In Brazil, cotton is following in 
soy's footsteps. Transgenic cotton varieties, 
smuggled into the country in recent years, may 
now be legalized by a draft law already quietly 
approved by the lower house of Congress.  Now the 
draft law will go to the Senate, where it is 
almost certain that it will be passed, because 
there is an even more overwhelming majority in 
favor of genetically modified (GM) crops, 
according to Jean Marc von der Weid, coordinator 
of Advice and Services for Alternative 
Agriculture Projects (AS-PTA), a non-governmental 
organization active in the cause "For a GM-free 
Brazil".  Opponents to GM cotton and maize point 
out that these crops are a greater contamination 
risk than soy because there are native species of 
cotton and maize, but not soy, in Brazil. Cotton 
grown from transgenic seeds is estimated to cover 
150,000 hectares. 
 
Source - IPS News 
 
------ 
Health 
------ 
 
¶4. Chile: Too Much Lead in Portezuelo 
 
DEC. 26, 2006 - More than 3,200 milligrams of 
lead per kilogram of soil has been found in the 
area around the northern Chilean town of 
Portezuelo, 14 km southeast of Antofagasta, where 
there is a lead storage site.  "The site should 
be closed up, and the trucks that transport the 
lead (to the port of Antofagasta) should be 
sealed," Hugo Benitez, president of the region's 
medical school, told Tierramerica. The health 
authorities have pledged to seek solutions, given 
that high concentrations of lead can cause 
cancer, neurological damage, attention deficit 
and aggressive behavior, especially in children. 
 
BRASILIA 00000096  004.2 OF 021 
 
 
 
Source - Tierramerica 
 
¶5. Developing Nations Eligible for European 
Funding 
 
DEC. 21, 2006 - For the first time, researchers 
in developing countries will be able to apply for 
European funding under nearly the same terms as 
European researchers, as opposed to a limited 
amount of funding for earmarked projects.  The 
first round of calls for the European Union's 
USD69 billion Seventh Framework Program (FP7) 
will be announced on 22 December.  Priority areas 
of research identified for developing countries 
include health, environment, transportation and 
agriculture. In particular, the seven-year 
funding mechanism emphasizes innovation for rapid 
diagnostics for HIV/AIDS, malaria and 
tuberculosis, and tests for drug resistance. FP7 
will run from 1 January 2007 until December 2013. 
Information on how to apply for funds can be 
found at the website of the Community Research & 
Development Information Service. 
 
Source - SciDev 
 
¶6. Revolutionary New Aids Drug Tested In Chile 
 
DEC. 18, 2006 - A study conducted in Chile to 
test a new drug targeting the HIV virus has 
showed encouraging results in patients. Now, drug 
company Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) is beginning a 
new study to test an HIV vaccine, and it looks as 
though Chile will be involved.  The initial study 
was part of a larger drug trial being conducted 
by MSD prior to presenting the product for 
approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration 
(FDA).  Although the Chilean portion of the 
project was small, only involving 10 patients, 
the results were staggering.  MSD's new drug MK- 
0518 works to inhibit an enzyme used by HIV to 
invade the immune system, which it does by 
 
BRASILIA 00000096  005.2 OF 021 
 
 
injecting its DNA into white blood cells.  In 
layman's terms, this drug prevents HIV from 
replicating itself in the body.  In the Chilean 
portion of the study, the drug resulted in an 
average 98 percent decrease in the presence of 
HIV in patients. 
 
Source - Santiago Times (no link) 
 
¶7. Plans Promotes Traditional Medicine in Andean 
Countries 
 
DEC. 17, 2006 - An Andean intercultural health 
plan, which would support research on traditional 
medicine and help elaborate a regional plan in 
this issue was one of the main proposals made 
during the 1st Congress on Traditional Medicine 
carried out December 8-10 in Lima, Peru.  The 
event was attended by governmental 
representatives and indigenous communities from 
all Andean countries.  "We need to keep in mind 
that behind traditional medicine there is a 
medicinal system that has been used to solve 
health problems for millenniums, in populations 
that for many reasons are at the margin of 
western health services," stated Oswaldo 
Salaverry, director of the National Center for 
Intercultural Health of the Peruvian Health 
Institute. 
 
Source - SciDev 
 
------------ 
Water Issues 
------------ 
 
¶8. Water Crisis is Big Test for Peru's President 
 
NOV. 27, 2006 - For the impoverished people 
living on the sandy desert fringes of Peru's 
capital, Lima, reliable water supplies and 
politicians' promises are two things they know 
never to rely on.  President Alan Garcia, who 
 
BRASILIA 00000096  006.2 OF 021 
 
 
took office in July warning of a "time bomb" if 
Peru's social needs are not addressed, has put 
water at the center of his domestic agenda -- a 
risky strategy that could threaten his government 
if he fails to deliver, such is the clamor for 
the resource considered a basic human right. 
Tensions over water in agricultural areas are a 
continual flash point, as farmers accuse mining, 
Peru's top industry, of damaging supplies and 
threatening livelihoods. Many are skeptical that 
Garcia can meet his goal, especially given the 
ailing condition of Lima's state-owned water 
utility, Sedapal, which loses a third of its 
water through pipeline leaks and illegal 
connections.  Meanwhile, any suggestion of 
selling off water companies is highly unpopular 
after the privatization of water utilities in 
Argentina and Bolivia went down so badly with 
local people and both countries kicked out 
private foreign operators. 
 
Source - Reuters AlertNet 
 
------- 
Forests 
------- 
 
¶9. Two Timber Firms Pretending To Be 'Green,' 
Groups Allege 
 
DEC. 24, 2006 - Two of the largest timber 
companies in the U.S., Weyerhaeuser and Plum Creek 
Timber, have polished their public images for 
years by participating in a program that certifies 
that their logging is environmentally friendly. 
But in separate challenges this month from the far 
corners of the United States, environmental groups 
in Washington State and in Maine are accusing 
Weyerhaeuser Co. and Plum Creek Timber Co. of 
using the forest industry's green-labeling program 
as a cover while they log in ways that harm 
endangered spotted owls in Washington and violate 
forestry laws in Maine. The Seattle Audubon 
 
BRASILIA 00000096  007.2 OF 021 
 
 
Society and the Natural Resources Council of Maine 
have demanded in documents sent to the Sustainable 
Forestry Board that it revoke certification for 
the companies until they comply with standards 
they have pledged to uphold. The requests mark the 
first time that mainstream environmental groups 
have publicly attempted to turn the forest 
industry's green certification process against big 
timber companies by insisting that they be 
suspended from the program, the Sustainable 
Forestry Initiative, said William H. Banzhaf, 
president of the forestry board, which oversees 
certification. 
 
Source - Washington Post 
 
¶10. Are Brazil Nuts Really Sustainable? 
 
DEC. 20, 2006 - A lot of rainforest conservation 
initiatives embrace sustainably harvested non- 
timber forest products (NTFPs) like seeds and 
nuts as a means to provide income to locals 
without harming the forest. Operating on the 
premise that such products are eco-friendly, 
hundreds of outfits ranging from Whole Foods to 
the Body Shop to Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream 
tout their use of sustainably harvested Brazil 
nuts and related products. But really, how 
sustainable are these products?  A study 
published in the February 2007 issue of the 
journal Conservation Biology suggests that nuts 
and seeds from the rainforest are indeed 
sustainable, but only when hunting of key seed 
dispersers -- especially large rodents like 
agouti and acouchy -- is limited. The study shows 
the importance of seed disperser conservation in 
sustainably managed forest areas. 
 
Source - Mongabay 
 
¶11. Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest Bill is 
Approved 
 
 
BRASILIA 00000096  008.2 OF 021 
 
 
DEC. 2006 - Brazil's Congress has passed long- 
awaited legislation to save the country's 
remaining stands of Atlantic Rainforest, the 
once-vast tropical woodland that retains a 
patchwork presence in 17 mainly coastal states. 
In November the lower house of Congress, the 
Chamber of Deputies, voted unanimously to 
conserve the remaining 37,000 square miles 
(95,000 sq kms) of the rainforest, which includes 
primary, secondary and climax woodlands. Though 
the Chamber had passed the bill in Dec. 2003, the 
legislation languished for three years in the 
Senate, which eventually revised and approved it. 
Lawmakers loyal to the farming and ranching lobby 
pressured the Chamber to take up the original 
bill because they objected to a provision in the 
Senate version that would reduce the potential 
indemnities landowners in the Atlantic Rainforest 
could receive in compensation for the billQs 
cutting restrictions. In the Senate bill, 
indemnities were based on the "real" value of 
property, not the far higher "potential" value 
cited in the Chamber bill. 
 
Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa 
Stoner for complete article) 
 
-------- 
Wildlife 
-------- 
 
¶12. Galapagos: Where Eradication and Conservation 
Meet 
 
DEC. 2006 - Forty semi-automatic rifles. Hundreds 
of thousands of rounds of ammunition. Seventy 
hunting dogs. Two helicopters.  Imagine a supply 
list for conservation fieldwork, and it is 
unlikely the above items would come to mind. Yet 
these were among the ingredients of the Isabela 
Project, an invasive-species eradication campaign 
on the Galapagos Islands that scientists are 
calling the worldQs largest and most successful 
 
BRASILIA 00000096  009.2 OF 021 
 
 
such effort ever. The main goal was to rid 
Isabela Island, the largest link in Ecuador's 
famed Galapagos chain, of a spectacularly 
destructive population of 120,000 feral goats. 
Begun in earnest in 2004, the campaign culminated 
when organizers announced this July that they had 
eliminated almost all the goats, which originally 
were deposited on the islands by sailors in the 
1800s to serve as a store of food. For anyone 
concerned with animal rights, slaughter on this 
scale might seem egregious. But conservation 
scientists on the Galapagos argue that the 
project has been essential in heading off the 
wholesale destruction of plants and animals on 
Isabela Island-including local populations of 
some of the native Galapagos species that 
inspired Charles DarwinQs theory of natural 
selection. 
 
Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa 
Stoner for complete article) 
 
¶13. Colombian Security Gains Aid Field Research 
 
DEC. 2006 - Researchers are hailing the recent 
discovery of a new bird in a former Colombian 
guerrilla hideout, calling it a sign that 
security is returning to the war-torn nation. 
Ornithologists say the announcement in October of 
the discovery of the new Yariguies Brush-Finch 
(Atlapetes latinuchus yariguierum) in an area of 
the Yariguies mountain range formerly controlled 
by Marxist guerrillas gave them hope they might 
eventually resume working throughout the nation. 
New discoveries are likely to follow, though the 
return of international scientists and research 
funders is not expected to be immediate. "For the 
last three or four decades, Colombia has suffered 
from a reputation as being a dangerous place," 
says Salaman of the American Bird Conservancy. 
"Unfortunately, that perception persists among 
donors because it hasnQt been widely reported 
that the situation here is a lot better than 
 
BRASILIA 00000096  010.2 OF 021 
 
 
before." 
 
Source - EcoAmerica (please contact Larissa 
Stoner for complete article) 
 
¶14. Venezuela: Birds Blamed for Arrival of West 
Nile Virus 
 
DEC. 26, 2006 - The West Nile virus has been 
reported in Venezuela, north of the Orinoco 
River, likely carried into the country by 
migratory birds, researcher Juan Carlos Navarro, 
of Venezuela's Central University, told 
Tierramerica.  The microorganism has been 
spreading from north to south in the Americas, 
and can be found in the United States, Mexico, 
Central America, the Antilles and Colombia. 
First detected in Uganda in 1937, the virus is 
transmitted by mosquitoes and ticks, and affects 
birds and mammals. In humans it causes fever and 
can lead to encephalitis, and in some cases, 
death.  "An epidemic of West Nile virus is 
unlikely in Latin America because most of the 
population has faced dengue or was vaccinated 
against yellow fever, but we must remain vigilant 
because the virus can mutate and affect people 
who were considered protected," said Navarro. 
 
Source - Tierramerica 
 
----------------------------- 
Fishing & Marine Conservation 
----------------------------- 
 
¶15. Recife Shark Attacks Part of a Broader 
Problem? 
 
DEC. 2006 - The Brazil edition of the well-known 
Rum & Reggae travel guide has this to say about 
Recife: "If the pickpocketers don't get you, the 
sharks will."  Over-the-top though it may be, the 
statement reflects twin realities in Recife-high 
crime rates comparable to those of urban beach 
 
BRASILIA 00000096  011.2 OF 021 
 
 
resorts such as Rio de Janeiro and a rate of 
shark attacks that on one stretch of coast is 
believed to rank among the highest in the world. 
The coast in question is a 12.5-mile (20-km) 
strip that includes Boa Viagem, the most 
fashionable district in northeastern Brazil. 
Since mid-1992, some 50 shark attacks on humans- 
19 of them fatal-have been recorded along this 
beach in Recife, the capital of Pernambuco state. 
Before 1992, shark attacks were rare enough to go 
unnoticed, and guidebooks encouraged travelers to 
visit Boa Viagem. But the situation has changed, 
and a key reason is degradation of the coastal 
environment, says Fabio Hazin, director of the 
Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture at 
Pernambuco Rural University. Hazin, who also 
serves as president of the State Committee to 
Monitor Incidents with Sharks (Cemit), a 
Pernambuco agency founded in 2004, cites the 
destruction of mangrove stands in particular. 
Mangroves, essential to providing nutrients for 
marine life, have succumbed in vast quantities to 
real estate development and other pressures. 
 
Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa 
Stoner for complete article) 
 
¶16. Trout Aquaculture Booming in Peru 
 
DEC. 22, 2006 - Trout ranching is a new economic 
activity for the poor Lake Titicaca area and has 
great potential for expansion.  With private 
sector leadership and USAID support, the industry 
made great strides since 2004 and will export 700 
tons to some of the most competitive markets in 
the world, including Canada, Japan, Norway and the 
United States.  The current potential for 
expanding production is considerable, according to 
Association of Trout Ranchers (APT) executives. 
The Ministry of Production has authorized 17,000 
ha for trout production, of which only four 
percent is in use.  Under a promotional scheme, 
the Ministry now charges only document processing 
 
BRASILIA 00000096  012.2 OF 021 
 
 
fees to get into the business, around USD120. 
There was also consensus that the highway under 
construction to connect Brazil to Southern Peru 
(passing through Puno) will be important to 
augment trade in the region. Chilean investors had 
already set up a number of pens along Lake 
Titicaca. 
 
Source - LIMA 00004772 
 
--------------- 
Protected Areas 
--------------- 
 
¶17. Paraguay has new Protected Wetland Area 
 
DEC. 11, 2006 - Guyra Paraguay (BirdLife in 
Paraguay) is celebrating news of the complete 
protection of over 9,500 hectares of seasonal 
wetland in the Paraguayan Pantanal, an area which 
forms part of one of the country's 57 Important 
Bird Areas (IBAs). The declaration represents 
years of hard work by Guyra Paraguay and the 
World Land Trust, which contributed most of the 
funds required for the purchase of the land 
through the negotiation of a number of donations 
from private trusts, as well as the IUCN National 
Committee for the Netherlands. Five key areas 
have been purchased and set aside for the Nature 
Reserve, equating in all to a US D250,000 
investment. The Pantanal is one of South 
America's key ecosystems, being flooded 
seasonally by freshwater from the central 
Brazilian highlands. Situated in the upper 
watershed of the Paraguay River, to the south of 
the Amazon basin and east of the Andes, the area 
represents the most extensive freshwater wetland 
in the world. As well as being important for 
birds, the Pantanal IBA also represents crucial 
habitat for a number of other species. Over 300 
species of fish, 40 amphibians, 55 reptiles, 120 
mammals and 2,000 species of plant are known to 
exist there 
 
BRASILIA 00000096  013.2 OF 021 
 
 
 
Source - BirdLife 
 
-------------------- 
Science & Technology 
-------------------- 
 
¶18. Survey Shows Dire State of Colombian R&D 
 
DEC. 19, 2006 - A survey of Colombia's 
manufacturing industry has revealed a bleak 
picture of its research, development, and 
innovation sectors, prompting two science 
institutes to launch a scheme to try to reverse 
the situation.  Only six per cent of 
manufacturing companies in and around Bogota have 
research and development departments, and over 
half do not rate innovation as 
important, according to the survey results 
released December 13.  They show that though the 
innovation capacity in manufacturing industries 
in Bogota and the surrounding district of 
Cundinamarca is better than ten years ago, it is 
still low. To change the situation, the Chamber 
of Commerce of Bogota and Colciencias, the 
National Institute for the Development of Science 
and Technology, have launched a scheme to narrow 
the innovation gap.  This will involve channeling 
1.6 billion Colombian Pesos (USD700,000) to 16 
research projects in technological development 
and innovation that relate to five product 
chains. 
 
Source - SciDev 
 
-------------- 
Climate Change 
-------------- 
 
¶19. Arlington Takes On Global Warming 
 
JAN. 02, 2007 - Arlington County will buy more 
wind-generated electricity, give tax breaks for 
 
BRASILIA 00000096  014.2 OF 021 
 
 
hybrid cars, require new public buildings to be 
green-certified and hand out energy-efficient 
light bulbs to residents as part of a major push 
toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions, county 
officials stated.  The county has reduced carbon 
dioxide and other emissions -- making its 
buildings more energy-efficient and adding hybrid 
vehicles to its fleets -- by a total of 2.6 
percent since 2000, but must now sharply increase 
its efforts in order to reach its goal of a 10 
percent reduction in the next five years, 
Arlington County Board Chairman Paul Ferguson (D) 
stated.  The county of about 200,000 has long 
considered itself eco-friendly, from the macro 
perspective (a "smart growth" strategy that 
clusters development around Metro stations, 
encouraging use of public transit) to the micro 
(an obsession with the county's "tree canopy"). 
 
Source - Washington Post 
 
¶20. U.S. Wants Polar Bears Listed As Threatened 
 
DEC. 26, 2006 - The Bush administration has 
decided to propose listing the polar bear as 
threatened under the Endangered Species Act, 
putting the U.S. government on record as saying 
that global warming could drive one of the 
world's most recognizable animals out of 
existence.  The administration's proposal - which 
was described by an Interior Department official 
who spoke on the condition of anonymity - stems 
from the fact that rising temperatures in the 
Arctic are shrinking the sea ice that polar bears 
need for hunting.  Identifying polar bears as 
threatened with extinction could have an enormous 
political and practical impact. Because 
scientists have concluded that carbon dioxide 
from power-plant and vehicle emissions is helping 
drive climate change worldwide, putting polar 
bears on the endangered species list raises the 
legal question of whether the government would be 
required to compel U.S. industries to curb their 
 
BRASILIA 00000096  015.2 OF 021 
 
 
carbon dioxide output. 
 
Source - Washington Post 
 
------ 
Energy 
------ 
 
¶21. U.S. Oil Firm Signs Contract for Ethanol 
Plant in Peru 
 
On January 5, U.S. oil firm Maple Gas signed a 
USD650 million contract with the Piura Regional 
Government for a sugar cane-based ethanol plant. 
President Garcia spoke at the signing ceremony, 
calling the biofuel project the start of an 
"agrarian revolution" that showcased foreign 
private investment.  The labor-intensive plant, 
on the northern desert coast, should produce 30 
million gallons/year by 2010.  Garcia announced 
other biofuel projects in the works. The Maple 
project is a model for U.S investors on how to 
coordinate land and water rights acquisition with 
the national and a regional government. 
 
Source - US Embassy Lima 
 
¶22. In the Global Energy Rush, Nuclear Gets a 
Resurgence 
 
JAN. 06, 2007 - Sixty miles outside Buenos Aires, 
construction crews soon will be swarming over a 
partially built concrete dome abandoned 12 years 
ago, resuming work on Argentina's long-delayed 
Atucha II nuclear power plant. They will be in the 
vanguard of surging interest in nuclear power 
worldwide.  Faced with evidence that coal- and 
oil-fired electric plants are overheating the 
planet, and alarmed by soaring demand for 
electricity, governments from South America to 
Asia are turning once again to a power source 
mostly shunned for two decades as too dangerous 
and too costly. Globally, 29 nuclear power plants 
 
BRASILIA 00000096  016.2 OF 021 
 
 
are being built. Well over 100 more have been 
written into the development plans of governments 
for the next three decades. India and China each 
are rushing to build dozens of reactors. The 
United States and the countries of Western Europe, 
led by new nuclear champions, are reconsidering 
their cooled romance with atomic power. 
International agencies have come on board; even 
the Persian Gulf oil states have announced plans 
for nuclear generators. 
 
Source - Washington Post 
 
¶23. Controversial Chile Dam Project Inches Ahead 
 
JAN. 5, 2007 - Swiss mining company Xstrata, one 
of several large conglomerates eyeing Region XI 
as a potentially valuable source of hydroelectric 
power, nosed ahead of its competitors this week 
in what has been an ongoing race to dam the 
areaQs pristine rivers.  On January 2nd, Xstrata - 
working in collaboration with local affiliate 
Energia Austral - became the first of the 
competing firms to file an official Environmental 
Impact Study (EIS), a necessary prerequisite to 
any eventual construction.  Though the Swiss 
company would eventually like to build several 
power generators in the region, the EIS it 
submitted recently focuses specifically on plans 
to erect a dam along the Cuervo River. The 
proposed USD600 million project would be located 
approximately 21 kilometers northeast of Puerto 
Chacabuco and 26 kilometers north of Puerto 
Aysen. SEE ALSO "U.S. Environmental Group Opposes 
Aisen Project in Chile" BELOW. 
 
Source - Santiago Times (no link) 
 
¶24. Argentina Announces 2.3-Billion-Dollar Fuel 
Refinery Project 
 
JAN. 1, 2007 - In an effort to offset expected 
shortages in diesel fuel supplies, the Argentine 
 
BRASILIA 00000096  017.2 OF 021 
 
 
government has announced a project to build a 
refinery that will require an about 2.3-billion- 
dollar investment which will be mainly made by 
some 30 private oil companies, with the exception 
of Royal/Dutch Shell, which is engaged in a 
dispute with the administration. The refinery 
which has already started to be called General 
Mosconi II would have a refining capacity of two 
to three million cubic meters of diesel fuel a 
year.  The details of the project were agreed with 
Federal Planning Minister Julio De Vido, Domestic 
Trade Secretary Guillermo Moreno and 
representatives from Spain's Repsol-YPF, Brazil's 
Petrobras Energia, and US companies Pan American 
Energy, Chevron and Esso SAPA. 
 
Source - MercoPress 
 
¶25. Brazil to Test Hybrid Fuel-Cell and Battery- 
Powered Buses 
 
DEC. 2006 - Brazil's Mines and Energy Ministry 
and Sao Paulo's Metropolitan Urban Transport 
Company (Emtu) have launched a USD16 million 
pilot project to put five hybrid buses into 
operation by 2009 that will be powered by 
rechargeable batteries and hydrogen fuel cells. 
Meanwhile, the agency also is developing 
catalytic converters for its buses to cut down on 
particulate emissions.  The buses, which will get 
70 percent of their power from fuel cells and 30 
percent from batteries, will be the first of 
their kind to be used commercially in Latin 
America, says Marcio Schettino, an Emtu manager 
heading the project. The effort, to include 
construction of a hydrogen production plant, is 
being funded with USD12.3 million from the Global 
Environment Facility, a multilateral funder of 
green projects in developing countries, and 
USD3.7 million from the Brazilian government. 
 
Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa 
Stoner for complete article) 
 
BRASILIA 00000096  018.2 OF 021 
 
 
 
¶26. U.S. Environmental Group Opposes Aisen 
Project in Chile 
 
DEC. 20, 2006 - Chilean Patagonia, one of the 
world's most pristine wilderness areas, is 
receiving major attention these days from a large 
and very well-connected U.S. environmental group. 
The U.S. based Natural Resources Defense Council 
(NRDC) recently designated Chilean Patagonia as a 
so-called "BioGem." The organization is currently 
featuring the region - together with Florida's 
Emerald Coast and the Yellowstone/Greater Rockies 
area - prominently on its web site 
(www.nrdc.org/).  The NRDC, founded in 1970 and 
operating from offices in several major U.S. 
cities, boasts 1.2 million members and is linked 
directly to the powerful Kennedy family. Robert 
Kennedy Jr., who shares the same name as his 
famous father - a one-time U.S. senator, Attorney 
General and presidential hopeful who was 
assassinated in 1968 - is the organization's 
senior environmental attorney.  Backers of the 
project claim the electricity it would produce - 
equivalent to about 30 percent of the electricity 
currently available in Central Chile - makes the 
Aisen project absolutely necessary. Demand for 
electricity, they point out, grows by an average 
of six percent annually. 
 
Source - Santiago Times (no link) 
 
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General 
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¶27. Sustainable Enterprise in Brazil 
 
January 2, 2007 - The 2006 New Ventures Forum in 
Brazil gave special awards and recognition to four 
companies with outstanding sustainable business 
models: 1) Eletrocell develops hydrogen energy 
systems that it hopes will instigate the 
 
BRASILIA 00000096  019.2 OF 021 
 
 
next energy revolution in Brazil (the first one 
being biofuels); 2) Florestas Cosmetics makes 
beauty products from BrazilQs rich biodiversity. 
Each product is certified organic and sustainably 
harvested. Whole Foods Market and Carrefour are 
among Florestas' major customers; 3) Hering 
Instruments uses wood certified by the Forest 
Stewardship Council to make high-quality, 
sustainably crafted musical instruments, such 
guitars, drums, and harmonicas; and 4) Ouro 
Verde's product line includes high-quality food 
products like cooking oils and jellies. The 
company is helping to shift local agricultural 
practices in the Amazon away from extraction 
towards sustainable harvesting to preserve its 
rich biodiversity. These companies and six other 
finalists are proving that green, sustainable 
business is alive and prospering in Brazil. 
 
Source - WRI 
 
¶28. New Coca Spat Leaves Colombia Flying Solo 
 
DEC. 22, 2006 - A decision by Colombia's 
conservative President Alvaro Uribe to restart 
the country's aerial fumigation of coca leaf 
plantations near the border with Ecuador appears 
to have further isolated him in a region 
increasingly unfriendly to Washington's war on 
drugs. Last week's move has sparked a diplomatic 
row, with Ecuador recalling its ambassador to 
Colombia and vowing to file an official complaint 
to both the Organization of American States and 
the United Nations. Ecuador's leftist president- 
elect Rafael Correa, a close friend of 
Venezuela's anti-American president, Hugo Chavez, 
has even started recruiting other Latin leaders 
to oppose aerial fumigation.  "It's simply 
unacceptable that they continue spraying from the 
air with glysophate," Mr. Correa said this week, 
referring to the herbicide used, a more 
concentrated version of Monsanto's Round-Up. "It 
kills legal crops on the Ecuadorean side and, 
 
BRASILIA 00000096  020.2 OF 021 
 
 
apparently, also kills farmers."  Ecuador has 
activated its air defense system to monitor the 
fumigation planes, many of which are piloted by 
Americans. Colombia announced it was sending more 
troops to the 586 kilometer-long border, to keep 
Colombian leftist guerrillas from fleeing into 
Ecuador. 
 
Source - CS Monitor 
 
¶29. Binational Barrick Mine Wins Key Approval 
 
DEC. 2006 - Plans by Canada's Barrick Gold to 
develop a massive mining operation high in the 
Andes have won environmental approval from 
Argentine provincial authorities, just months 
after the border-straddling gold and silver 
project received the go-ahead from neighboring 
Chile. In Argentina, decision-making over mining 
projects rests with the provinces. With San 
JuanQs approval in hand, Barrick says 
construction of the mine will commence as soon as 
Argentina and Chile settle some outstanding tax 
questions about the project, with production 
slated to begin in 2010. However, Barrick's plans 
have caused debate among Argentine officials at 
the national level, fueling some speculation 
about whether President Nestor Kirchner might 
intervene to halt the project.  Two members of 
the Kirchner administration in particular have 
questioned the project-Environment Secretary 
Romina Picolotti and Raul Estrada Oyuela, the 
foreign ministry's special representative for 
international environmental affairs. Objecting to 
Barrick's plans to use cyanide solutions to 
extract gold from ore, they argue national 
authorities must ensure the project receives 
greater scrutiny than that given it by Jose Luis 
Gioja, San JuanQs pro-mining governor. 
 
Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa 
Stoner for complete article) 
 
 
BRASILIA 00000096  021.2 OF 021 
 
 
¶30. Critics of Nuclear Accord Win a Round in 
Argentina 
 
DEC. 2006 - Green advocates in Argentina have 
scored an early-round legal win in their campaign 
to prevent the importation of spent nuclear fuel 
from an Argentine-built nuclear-research reactor 
in Australia.  Waste produced by a new research 
reactor that Argentina's state-controlled high- 
technology company Invap has built for the 
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology 
Organization (Ansto), was to have been vitrified 
in Argentina if Ansto requests it and returned to 
Australia for disposal.  But a three-judge 
federal appeals panel in the Argentine city of 
Bahia Blanca has issued an order prohibiting the 
arrangement, which Ansto has not yet sought to 
use. The decision, made public last month, 
reverses a lower court's rejection of a complaint 
that a green activist filed to challenge the 
spent-fuel import regimen. It has drawn a legal 
appeal from Invap, which means the matter now 
must be decided by Argentina's Supreme Court. 
 
Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa 
Stoner for complete article) 
 
SOBEL