May 8 will mark the end of a two-week tour through Spain and Italy by activist Juan Pablo Orrego, international coordinator of the Patagonia Defense Council, which is fighting the construction of five dams in the southern Chilean region of Aysén.

Orrego, who represents 45 non-governmental organizations from Chile and elsewhere, has planned meetings with civil society groups and banking executives in the two European countries.

"We are calling on ENEL (the Italian electrical company whose Chilean affiliate is behind the dam project) and all its shareholders to renounce the HidroAysén project," Orrego told Tierramérica. The environmental impact assessment process has been on hold since August.

"Our message is clear: this project is destructive and unnecessary, given the enormous potential the country has for unconventional renewable energy sources," he added.