For many months we have been following the progress of the "Patagonia sin Represas" movement in Southern Chile. The organization has launched a very strong Public relations campaign across Chile to fight the Endesa power company and others in the Chilean government that would destroy thousands of acres of the Baker and Rio Pascua river valleys in the Patagonia. This very misdirected attempt to solve Chile's power problems by building hydro electric dams and sending power all the way to Santiago has gained speed under President Bachelet's administration in Chile. We happened to come across the recent horseback protest on the road from the Balmaceda airport and as they marched through downtown Coyhaique towards the central square.

Global Warming is one of those things we tend to think about as slowly happening over time in the background; well, at least until a lake just disappears. That is what happened in the Chilean Patagonia recently. A lake fed by a Glacier, suddenly just dried up over about a month. We have reported on the big picture of Global Warming in South America and Southern Chile before, but this is one of those events everyone is perhaps a little to quick to blame on Global warming. Well the lake is now returning. So was this a case of Global Warming in Southern Chile?

The international Gold mining company Geocom Resources, along with Kinross Gold Corp., both United States based companies are quietly buying up the mineral rights to the Espolon Valley in the heart of the Chilean Patagonia totaling over 91,000 hectares (353 square miles), with over 318 claims in the region X. We are closely watching these developments as Gold mining operations have the potential for incredible environmental devastation, even under the closest regulation. We need your help to insure the environmental assault on South America's Patagonia is brought to the full light of day. We even have a simple email in both Spanish and English prepared for you to help us let everyone know.

The Global Warming verdict is in for Chile. Well, at least as much as it will ever be regarding the debate over Global Warming. What does the UN Global Warming report say about South America, Chile, and southern Chile in Particular?

Now that the Transantiago project has officially been implemented, and the old yellow micro buses removed from the streets of Santiago, what happens to those old buses? Well it turns out that many are being sold to cities in southern Chile, smog included.

The UN recently released the report on Global Warming. While the rest of World debates if there is such a thing as Global Warming, the effects in regards to southern Chile are as much about what has already happened as what will happen in the not to distant future. What will Global Warming mean for Southern Chile, Patagonia, and South America in General?

They are not building a Chilean autobahn in any sense.