Chile's indegenous community of Pehuenche Indians have found rare political support. President Ricardo Lagos absented himself from the inauguration of the controversial Ralco dam, 500 kilometres south of Santiago, on September 27, 2004. The biggest hydropower plant of the country became operational after an eight-year-long legal battle over indigenous land rights and environment. Environmentalists welcomed Lagos' move whole-heartedly.

The debate over Ralco began in 1989 when the construction of four dams over the B