Patricio Segura, journalist who defended Patagonia’s rivers, died of hantavirus, aged 54

Patricio Segura, a journalist dedicated to defending the rivers of Patagonia, passed away at the age of 54 after contracting hantavirus. The fight to prevent the construction of five dams along the Baker and Pascua rivers began in a remote area of Chile, far from the capital city of Santiago. Segura, based in Aysén in Chilean Patagonia, spent years analyzing the project proposed by HidroAysén, which Chile claimed was necessary to meet increasing demand for electricity.

Through his work with the Corporación Privada para el Desarrollo de Aysén (CODESA), Segura helped organize local opposition and assisted residents in preparing their arguments against the dams. His efforts were instrumental in the eventual failure of the project, although Segura insisted that any decisions regarding the issue remained with the local people of Aysén.

Born in Iquique, Segura pursued a journalism degree at the Universidad Católica del Norte and began his career in Coyhaique in 1995. As a journalist, he covered a wide range of topics, including science, tourism, corruption, and politics, for both local and national publications. Over a span of 15 years, he contributed investigations and columns to the Patagon Journal.

After the defeat of the HidroAysén dams, Segura continued to report on other issues affecting Patagonia, such as the expansion of salmon companies causing pollution and damage to seabeds, the closure or transfer of mines without proper handling of contaminated sites, and the division of rural estates into numerous speculative plots, known as megaloteos.