News stories by Orlando Milesi

SANTIAGO, October 22 (IPS) - Desalination projects are booming in Chile, with 51 plants planned to process seawater and a combined investment of US$ 24.455 billion. However, these initiatives hardly benefit small-scale farmers, who are threatened by the prolonged drought, and cause environmental concerns.

SAN ANTONIO, Chile, October 17 (IPS) - Maritime transport is key for Chile, which has 34 free trade agreements with countries and blocs of nations, one of the broadest trade networks in the world with access to over 86% of the global gross domestic product (GDP).

SAN ANTONIO, Chile, September 30 (IPS) - The port of San Antonio, Chile’s main port, is promoting a historic and sustainable expansion with its own investment and that of international consortiums, aiming to improve its current ninth place among the largest and busiest ports in Latin America.

SANTIAGO, September 4 (IPS) - Chile wants to be a hub in Latin America in data storage and transmission by developing data centers, leveraging its wealth of renewable energy, and its optimal digital interconnection.

OVALLE, Chile, Mar 21 (IPS) - Chile's goat tradition began in 1544. Now, despite a prolonged drought, the women herders are adapting it to climate change and producing award-winning cheese.Women goat herders in the municipality of Ovalle, in northern Chile, are confronting climate change by defending their heritage through improvements in the quality and variety of their products, which has led some to win international awards for their cheeses.

SANTIAGO, Nov 20 (IPS) - Chile, a country rich in solar and wind energy and with huge photovoltaic power stations  and wind turbines in its elongated territory, managed to change its grid by incorporating renewable energies, which account for an installed capacity equivalent to 43.8 % of its electricity production.

SANTIAGO, Oct 29 (IPS) - The production of solar energy by means of panels installed on small farmers' properties or on the roofs of community organisations is starting to directly benefit more and more farmers in Chile.

PAREDONES, Chile, Aug 05 (IPS) - The number of organisations that bring together fisherwomen who seek to be recognised as workers, make their harsh reality visible and escape the vulnerability in which they live is growing in Chile.

SANTIAGO, May 02 (IPS) - The drinking water supply in the southern island of Chiloé, one of Chile's rainiest areas, is threatened by damage to its peatlands, affected by sales of peat and by a series of electricity projects, especially wind farms.

QUILLOTA, Chile, Apr 30 (IPS) - For the rural farmers in Chile, a combination of climate change-induced mega droughts, water policies that make access unaffordable and a State that either doesn’t want to or dares not intervene in the water market means family enterprises are dying out.Lack of water threatens the very existence of family farming in Chile, forcing farmers to adopt new techniques or to leave their land.