Rumbo al corazón de la Patagonia | DW Documental

a land full of magic and authenticity that captivates many Patagonia the southern tip of Chile passes through the middle of the southern highway a route of 1200 40 kilometers that allows you to delve into distant nature the impassable nature of Patagonia seemed impassable it was like a utopia and a highway could cross nature, however the southern highway made its way through one of the last natural and intact paradises, the highway connects virgin fjords with the metropolises and also gives access to the salmon industry of Chila, a trip full of surprises through a Land that was also discovered many years ago by German immigrants between Germany and Patagonia in the south of Latin America.

There are about 13,000 kilometers. Patagonia extends between the territories of Argentina and Chile - the southern highway has to connect the center of Chile with the extreme south of the country the connection only exists through Argentina untamed nature prevents the last stage the beginning of the trip is the Chilean port city of Puerto Montt here begins the southern highway also called route 7 after about 60 km the untamed part of the

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soon a fjord interrupts the road as it happens more than once, especially in the northern section of the southern highway, the ferries form bridges according to the Chilean government, later they will replace them with a continuous road, the captain stands and the medina sees it calmly of 30 years they say in connecting this entire route that they are doing it the brands have to be consistent in that tunnels have to improve all the access ramps so a long-term project nothing better and horseback is dead until now the southern highway has four Ferry connections This section that only passes through the Comau Fjord measures more than 60 kilometers.

They will be able to force a road in the middle of nature. In any case, the country's critics have their doubts. For them, a modern ferry system would be the most efficient solution with the The continuous highway project was imposed against all doubt and is politically decided. In this region there are still very few people who could take advantage of the highway. We continue towards the first destination of the trip, which is located on the shore of the Comau Fjord, where German marine biologists maintain a center. of research in the bay of güidi the center can only be reached by boat through the comau fjord the fjord has something very attractive that interests scientists the director of the center is freni hauserman with whom we spoke before at his house in puerto montt he has a ph as predicted for the year 2100 in the world's oceans, that is, we can really take a look at the future.

We see how a coral can live in an ocean, what it will be like in 100 years. That look at the future turns research work into the fjord. comau is something very valuable for scientists. They specialize in cold water corals that grow only in these fjords so close to the surface that scientists can analyze them by diving in the sea. It is something unique. The biologist has already discovered more than 50 new species, some of which are She was officially named after her children and her husband. However, for a few years now she has been observing something disturbing.

She has witnessed how entire banks of corals become extinct year after year. In addition to this discovery, in April 2015, another alarming discovery was added. Look around at an ibex, a dead whale. next to another, we all pointed them out, shocked, we went in a small plane and marked the whales with a GPS, we were sitting there and it clicked all the time until we found out about 100 or 300, I don't know, it was all full of dead whales, it was terrifying, the greatest mortality of whales that was ever documented in a flyover, scientists counted 360 dead northern fin whales, however the biologist suspects a much worse dimension if she knows from the gray whales of the North East Atlantic in the United States that only between 5 and 10 percent of the individuals that They die in shallow waters, they are stranded on the beach.

If we conclude that these 360 ​​were between 5 and 10 percent, we arrive at an alarming figure. The population of the northern whale in the southern hemisphere would really be in danger. It is very likely that the reason for the mass death of whales may have been the red tide as they call it here the red tide causes a mostly reddish tint in the water due to the massive presence of certain microscopic algae that release toxic substances this can be fatal for some marine inhabitants it is also known that the Red tide in general is becoming more and more accentuated with pollution in the world, that is, changes have been observed that are due to anthropogenic causes.

Anthropogenic factors, that is, those caused by the name, could be the increase in economic activities. Few things have altered. both the region and the industrial salmon farming that arrived in Patagonia thanks to the southern highway and that today the most important employer in southern Chile, what happens during salmon farming is presented by a temporary worker, it is like making chicken or how to make pig the same to an industry like all of us with her cell phone I sign the job in one of the fish farms I'm giant I go to a center there are 10 cages of 40,000 fish there is the victor those are the probes with which the medicine passes and the vaccine with which you inject beer and aesthetic milk if you use and that gun you take the fish with your hand with this hand you inject the fish it constitutes the fish before whoever gets sick has to go through that process this is how you are going to be like drugged with benzocaine in a bottle it is like a blue syrup that is like an anesthesia and that means that the fish that you dose like this so that you can handle it by hand, they throw 120 kilos of food daily at the fish and of those 120 gomera don't know 40 there and Everything else goes from land to sea, that's it, it's industrial pollution, you don't worry about that because well, you come here to do what you have to do, there's no later, you leave, no, the fisherman Boris lives in front of the Comau Fjord research center, he was born.

And he grew up here. I really value living here because anyone has the possibility of living in a place like this. Many coves where Boris used to fish are now occupied by salmon farms near them. They have caught very strange fish. Now he can take him because he has fed for so long. and with chemistry and food salmon that today have color and skin the salmon type bass can find many many boris built his house in an abandoned bay on the edge of a huge nature reserve pumalín national park el parque no founded an american named douglas tompkins had Made a fortune in branded outdoor clothing in the 1990s, said goodbye to the business world, sold his stake with more than US$100 million and bought land in Patagonia, where Tomkins founded the national park with Ma Lin.

In most of its property, the park of more than 3,000 square kilometers reaches from the border with Argentina to the coast, crossing the Chilean mainland to the southern highway that passes through the middle of this region. This meant another obstacle since Tompkins wanted to prevent a paved road from crossing his park. The Chilean population was very distrustful of the foreigner's intentions due to the amount of land that was purchased, thousands of hectares, so the people told this gringo that we must make a small country where he will not enter. no one but just him and then I didn't begin to understand that it's not not like that but if it's not that you take care of what you have and make the most of it because a tree doesn't grow overnight it takes hundreds hundreds 500 years another tree falls Likewise, according to what is said, the top 15 was looking for the oldest tree in the world before deciding to found this natural reserve.

The state guard Sergio has worked in the Pumalín National Park for more than 10 years. Sergio knows a lot about this primitive flora and we are well below the forest of mania these are giants that are equal to around 100 150 years old you can hear the frogs and toads that live in this humid area this is one of the ancient larch trees the largest we can have I believe that here inside it what it is The park of humanity dates back about 3,000 years or so, these gigantic larch trees, the Patagonian cypresses, grow only in this region and nowhere else in the world.

It is a pride as a park ranger to protect them and have the joy of working and caring for these trees. They are a wonder, this is a lung for the world, if Manning was a disaster, forest-wise, he was a disaster. Let's not say that there was no respect for nature. At the end of 2015, Douglas Tompkins died in a kayak accident, but his idealistic project did not end. suddenly it was uncertain what would happen to him he left us an idea so we who are younger and the future generations that come must take care of us they must protect us and this does not die now it does not die we already have your marine for many years a long time in 2017 the widow Tompkins left all the natural reserves to the Chilean state.

It was the largest private donation of land of all time. The condition was that the government had to declare the territory a national park. The trip continues from the Pumalín National Park along the Austral Highway heading south. Next stop is the town of Chaitén, south of the Pumalín National Park. The small port city that rises next to the Corcovado Gulf offers a somewhat sad view. In 2008, a natural disaster forced the residents to flee. In the following years, they did not even return. in half are the consequences of the eruption of the Chaitén volcano the volcano erupted at an unusual speed the cloud of smoke rose kilometers away gigantic masses of rock and lava destroyed parts of the town 10 kilometers away the volcano had remained dormant for nine thousand years until suddenly in a few hours huge masses of magma rose from a depth of 5 kilometers and the devastating eruption occurred.

It will be a long time until the region recovers from this natural disaster just a few kilometers away. The beauty of Patagonia blooms again in all its splendor and the next destination on the trip heading south is Villa Santa Lucia. Here comes someone for whom the construction of the Southern Highway was central in his life for a long time. My name is Mario Inostroza, military man in a retired member of the military labor corps for 35 years with pride our photos from that time the military labor corps began building the road in 1976 and was a pioneer in the most adverse conditions mario's company was there from the beginning and because The army took him because there was no company that wanted to come to work here, it was not profitable for him.

Mario still feels proud of the time when his unit opened the first trail in nature with the help of an ax and in the last few months they had advanced ten twenty meters of road in the month due to the difficulty of filling in and consolidating both in channeling the waters and consolidating the road or the road itself, these places were difficult to do but now the amount of machine, what we did not have in that time, nine hours, is a It is wonderful to see how the machines work and the abundance of machines in the initial phase.

The construction of the road was a true ordeal. Up to 10,000 men worked all year round. There were no weekends at that time. 45 workers lost their lives. The prisoners could change two years. of prison for one in the construction of roads varied, he was a volunteer for 35 years like many others here he still clings to the old name of Carretera Austral Augusto Pinochet who the forge well put all the effort so that this comes out that he was my general I thought then change the name I think it would be the people who do not know in depth what the work cost or what my general did so that this work was now in the foot that we are in technology improvement pavement asphalt fabulous in 1973 Augusto Pinochet came to power in Chile through a military coup his government the junta was made up of the commanders in chief of the air forces, the army, the navy and the military police rodolfo sanz is one of the last members still alive of the power leadership of the dictatorship until he joined the junta in 1985 as head of the military police and remained until the end of the regime in 1990 until he is 91 years old and is of German descent.

The photo that was taken is a photo, not a painting, in the Santiago museum there is of all the generals this is my portrait makes those pelt family here tonight the special dad fernando matthei chief of the air force and I here we tell you that together with the germans they told us in the sessions of the government board they made jokes on us because of We suddenly said something in German to each other when we had to change our minds. Only four men made the laws. They still see it as an advantage because I know we didn't make many laws.

Not so many but very good. I love it. Nowadays, our fortune has become our laws. and not everyone is hungry because the construction of the southern highway was so important for the men of the junta after all there was already a paved road in the south of Chile that passed through Argentina I have to have my own road that's not what anyone can do. I can't be there, he's in someone's house, they invite mine, he doesn't go, you like him in my house, so here it was necessary, essential, to have us a path through Chile, essential, costing, although nothing, Rodolfo Stange does not feel responsible for everything that happened under his command.

Of the board of this sixth, it is not that I say that it was good, no, unfortunately I have nothing to do with the dead, I am innocent, innocent of the entire military regime.He is responsible for at least three thousand political murders, the torture of more than 27,000 people in the most cruel way. These figures come from the reports of the Chilean truth commissions and are considered the minimum limit, however, many continue to venerate Pinochet, especially in along the highway using the atrocities of his regime are discarded as a necessary evil that allowed the progress of the entire country the journey takes us to a piece of German past in the town of Puyuhuapi in 1935 German settlers founded Puyuhuapi German tradition is practiced until today hello hello good morning my name is fridman gardez I have lived in puyuhuapi for three years in the town it remains in the houses as witnesses of the German settlement but the deterioration also corrodes them on the outskirts of the town the image changes to the account that hello good morning My name is Helmut Hoffer Dixel I live in Puyuhuapi I work in this place I have lived in this region all my life Helmut Hoffer Disel has successfully set up his own company His most important resource is the water from the nearby glacier Look how he eats the fish before the Hopper Wall also says he raised salmon now he concentrates only on trout farming chop the entire salmon industry is ruined yes for trout farming helmut hoffer says bet exclusively on organic and quality food the only thing missing is beer to make it perfect beer in that he is an expert It is the most beautiful job someone must test the bottles every day when the bottle is full they must spend 20 days in this room with a little heating this is how the process ends each bottle has a story there is one called the golden years my uncle valter He always said that they were his best years in the region.

It was a long road to reach the golden years. The generation of the founders fled from poverty in Germany, isolated and exposed to the harsh climate. The clearing of the extensive lands demanded the maximum from them. The immigrants lived. Above all, from livestock, forestry and fishing, in 1945 they founded a carpet factory that achieved national fame for the arduous agricultural work. They sought help from the neighboring island of Chiloé. Today, the descendants of the Chilotas make up the vast majority. However, the spirit entrepreneurial spirit of the founders endures to the present day the next destination is 600 km away through the impressive landscape of

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the further south you go along the southern highway the more often you see men like this in chile they call them grapes sos the horse and The poncho is the expression of a centuries-old way of life.

Juan Fuentes takes care of the land of a rancher. He was born and raised in the Río Vargas sector. They know life without access roads to civilization. Well, when the highway arrived, Carlos changed everyone's lives. I think it changed their lives because it made it easier. Before, Juan had to ride for a month to get to the nearest large town. Today it takes a few hours by car. There were holidays, for example, he reached every field that reached the road, for example. The neighbor who was breaking a hammock with a heifer was already arriving here to celebrate the arrival of the highway after connecting the southern highway a few days ago there was another great step towards civilization here we have had connectivity for four days now he reached the signals within four days so we are in diapers with the internet now we are more modern farmers we are going to have to buy a computer just to communicate with us I have had all the integration services facebook whatsapp email all the services also Juan Fuentes dressage horses wild patagonians like it is at night juan makes a lamb that's what it's called in the area the traditional way of roasting meat ah it's very delicious with that smoky flavor the salt and nothing more hard because I don't do anything like that but the road also brings uncertainty like Juan knows well, the open door can let someone in and stay if I take you to your house, for example, I stay and I leave you a piece of paper today to speculate that I won't sleep that night in your house, then the gentleman will know that I stayed and he won't let him know.

I got nothing out of it, what we don't want to be lost, however, he immediately learned to value the Internet because he finally has regular contact with his daughter who lives very far away. The next morning, Juan is preparing for a trip, he must climb the mountain to where he is. There is no road to take the cattle on horseback. It will take you almost 2 days. The last stage of the southern highway is approaching. Once again, one of the fjords interrupts the road and you have to connect with a ferry after 1,240 kilometers through Patagonia. chilena the southern highway reaches its temporary end in a former outpost of the chilean army villa o'higgins the highway arrived here only in 1997 as the place is so isolated the aerodrome has always had a key importance today mayor roberto rica vall inaugurates a new terminal this commune lived this part of the country due to lack of a geopolitical vision of the country it was always very isolated almost of total knowledge the new terminal has to boost air traffic acc and parked its headquarters at 206 the American vince viceroy has been operating for a few years domestic flights between Villa O'Higgins and the most remote places in Patagonia.

Very few pilots venture into this dangerous terrain for the maintenance of the plane. He trusts himself more than anyone. The pilot is not bothered at all by the loneliness of Villa O'Higgins. I grew up in an isolated place I don't like living in the city or even in a town I like living outdoors and here I have the feeling of being the only one and I like that Vince is the man for special tasks he does good measurements in order from NASA and in 2015 he piloted the plane with which the Comau Fjord scientists discovered the dead northern whales.

We flew in this area and in that area we found some dead whales, some more here but not as many and suddenly when we arrived in this area there were such time 35 here and another 40 scattered there in this fjord alone there were more than 100 whales before leaving vincent reviews the view for the second time it is the best alpha tango ski resort taking off runway 34 bill gates i came to o'higgins it is in front of the entrance to the field The southern ice is a barrier that until now prevents the expansion of the southern highway. The region is also a special challenge for pilots.

You must visualize how the winds move around the mountains if they come from the sides above or from the valley. the same as the water that flows into the river from a rock, that is, it is as if I were in a flying kayak, please this harsh beauty, it is much bigger than you, you must respect it. Vince already witnessed the forces of Patagonian nature up close in his sixth year. It was a perfect day, there was no wind and the visibility was good and suddenly one of the mountains and that before me I immediately understood that it was an erupting volcano I was able to film it well with my cell phone for that I sign the eruption of the Calbuco volcano that forced the residents to flee and I approached to within a kilometer of the crater and the column of ash optical now I have to concentrate on the flight the edge of the glacier rises 80 meters out of the water the dimensions are overwhelming the southern ice field extends 350 kilometers along along the Patagonian Andes is a gigantic obstacle for the southern highway project.

To the east it borders directly with Argentina and to the west there is a landscape of steep fjords and moss. I am sorry that we cannot see more but we better return. The weather conditions force us to vince to interrupt the flight under the cloud cushion there are strong winds and the plane threatens to get too close to the steep rocks cold bill gates alpha tango whiskey prince bought at 6 206 in alaska and flew with his wife in stages for many months until he reached video hills back on dry land Mayor Roberto Recabar does not wait before his political career.

He was a trucker and collected material for the construction of the road and experienced the great change that it caused in the region and when the road arrives it is a great progress But poverty is also going to occur among the people of O'Higgins. Energy is going to arrive. Television is going to arrive. Friends from the countryside are going to have to have a vehicle and they don't realize that deep down there is a jeep, and there is no economic capacity. due to the poverty of the fields to be able to maintain that pace of life and here we are at the end of the road, here this is the end because a little further on we already have Argentina so there is no possibility that we are going to continue advancing with this path ordered by a dictator the southern highway made its way through the Patagonian nature for more than 30 years to this remote place where today it runs into its limits, however the plan to conquer nature here is not ruled out to fulfill the old dream of a highway at some point Continue to the southern tip of Chile no matter what the cost