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The Williamson-Balfour Company (or Williamson, Balfour and Company), today referred to as Williamson Balfour Agrocomercial Ltda, was a Chilean-based Scottish sheep-farming company. When the Chilean government annexed Easter Island in 1888, it was leased to Enrique Merlet, who sold his control to the Williamson-Balfour Company; they in turn created a subsidiary called Compania Explotadora de la Isla de Pascua (CEDIP), which ran Easter Island as a sheep farm until 1953, when the Chilean government refused to renew their lease. During their rule, the natives were confined to one village, which they were not allowed to leave without the company's permission. In 1966, the inhabitants of Easter Island gained Chilean citizenship.
[edit] Bibliography
- Diamond, Jared, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive, (New York, 2005)
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