Chile decrees the remilitarization of the Mapuche region
Mapuche machi (shaman) Jesica Huentemil from the Fermin Manquilef community dries an animal skin to make a piece of carpet, in the municipality of Freire, Araucania region, Chile, September 27, 2021 AFP - JAVIER TORRES
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
The government of Chilean President Gabriel Boric ordered, on Monday May 16, the return of the army to the region of Araucania, in the south of the country, in the face of the increase in violence linked to the territorial claims of the Mapuche Indians.
Advertisement
Read more
President Gabriel Boric promised to demilitarize Araucania during his campaign.
But he finds himself forced to backtrack, particularly in the face of the sharp increase in arson.
A solution that Mapuche representatives do not believe in
, such as Aucan Huilcaman, spokesperson for the Mapuche organization the Council of All Lands.
"
There is not a place in the world where the army and the police have restored peace,
" he said at the microphone of Carlos Pizarro of RFI.
Chile has a long history of military presence.
“Seventeen years of dictatorship” without resolution of the conflict
“
There were 17 years of dictatorship during which the Mapuche conflict was not resolved.
The government of Sebastián Piñera has militarized during the last six months of its mandate, and has solved nothing either.
So after militarization, tensions and controversies will increase.
There will be reactions from the Mapuche people of the region, and it is impossible to know what type of reactions it will be
,” stresses Aucan Huilcaman.
“
Move towards peace
”
“
We hope to move towards peace
,” says the spokesperson for the Mapuche organization the Council of All Lands,
“but for that we need a clear public agenda, and we don't see that in this government.
Added to this is the fact that the right is pressing to militarize Araucania, but that is not how they are going to resolve the conflict.
In 140 years, they have not solved it by force and violence, and it is not now that they will solve it in such a context.
»
►Also read
: Chile: state of exception declared in two regions at the heart of Mapuche claims
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_EN
Chile
On the same subject
Chile: Elisa Loncon Antileo, a Mapuche scholar at the head of the Constituent Assembly
Chile: clashes during a march for the Mapuches, a lawyer dies