Note: Interview includes Spanish to English translation.
REPORTING FROM CHILE: On Thursday, March 23rd, the Campaign to STOP GE Trees delegation visited a region outside of Concepción that was hit badly by this summer’s wildfires. The fires swept through rural communities in this area, which is dominated by pine and eucalyptus plantations. It is understood there that these highly flammable plantations made the fires significantly worse.
We met with local organizers from Solo el Pueblo puede Ayuda el Pueblo (Only the People Can Help the People), a solidarity network formed to provide concrete support to families who lost their homes, water, food, and electricity during the emergency. This is an interview with a woman named Señora Ruth, whose land backs up to a eucalyptus plantation and who lost her extensive orchard and gardens to the fire. While Ruth’s family didn’t lose their home, dozens of their neighbors lost everything they owned and are in the process of figuring put how to rebuild.