Chilean Government hardens its anti-Mapuche policy

October 13, 1998

Is it possible for the Chilean Government to change its attitude toward the indigenous peoples?

The Chilean Government had hardened its repressive policy against the Mapuche with police raids in several parts of the country and the detention of 10 Mapuche youths -two of whom- had to be hospitalised because of the brutal action of police force. The Indigenous Law is under siege to accommodate multi-national corporations; land disputes are multiplying and the Lumako case arises again, with the government wielding of the threat of applying the Internal State Security Law.

On the issue of territorial rights and the preservation of indigenous cultures: our peoples have been waiting generations for a change of attitude from the Chilean society and its authorities. The lack of perspective and of political will to define a clear and transparent political project on the matter is causing a polarisation which, if it continues, will lead us (as expressed in a Mapulink communiqué) to the edge of a cliff and  this is a dangerous tendency which should not be exacerbated, in the interests of Chileans and Mapuche alike. Therefore urgent and just measures should be taken by the government in order to face constructively the conflicts arising from the unfortunate state in which we find ourselves. The Frei Administration's intransigence, its lack of credibility and its inability to generate initiatives, coupled with its frequent blunders on indigenous affairs, have contributed to worsen the situation, as happened in the administration's handling of the situation of the hydroelectric power stations. One should also take into account the innumerable land disputes and the dismissal, in little more than a year, of two Mapuche directors of CONADI (National Corporation for Indigenous Development) for dissenting from the government's policy and for defending the application of the Indigenous Law, all being the result of the government's hostile attitude. To complete the picture, Mapuche students have now been targeted and, as in the worst times of the dictatorship, they have been threatened with the application of the Internal State Security Law.

Those people who speak of national unity and historical reconciliation, whilst forgetting that we the Mapuche also have feelings, are simply engaging in demagogical calls void of all sincerity, and must be ignored. It's necessary for Chilean society as a whole to face reality thoughtfully and to make an effort to find lasting solutions for coexistence. Chilean authorities must look into their hearts and recognise that the benefits they enjoy are derived directly or indirectly from the land and the resources taken from the Mapuche nation. The authorities and political parties must accompany their talk with concrete action, because the Mapuche have had it with empty speeches, with promises and with projects that are announced with big headlines but never carried out. Electoral tactics -now used not only for elections by those who hold or aspire to hold the State's political and institutional power- will no longer sway our people.  The lesson we can derive from the recent past is that despite of the efforts to destroy us economically and culturally by stealing our resources and land and by the application of assimilationist policies aimed at eroding our identity as a nation, the Mapuche have not lost our consciousness of being a people; on the contrary, we have maintained intact, through generations, our spirit of kinship and solidarity. In fact, every time a community has suffered an act of aggression, it becomes a concern of the entire Mapuche people. In early August of this year, when Bernardita Calfuqueo was brutally beaten by Rolando Flores, mayor of Lumako (of the rightist Renovación Nacional Party), for denouncing racial discrimination and demanding respect for her rights as a professional, it hurt us as if she were a close family member. We are also very clear on the fact that our people is no longer willing to tolerate the kind of overbearing and degrading government treatment that has remained unchanged from the times of the Conquest. Times have changed and now there exists the consciousness that we also have a right to justice and the right to be treated in a civilised way, despite the fact that the justice system has continually disappointed us.

The Current Situation

In relation to the latest developments, it's good to ask ourselves why the Mapuche have started again to reoccupy disputed land in several parts of the Araucania region. Perhaps the statements by the peasants who took over the Santa Rosa de Colpi estate, Traiguén, may shed light on the reasons for this kind of action. They stated that they were 'tired of waiting for the verdict from the Chilean justice system, which in any case would never find in our favour.' (El Austral, Sept. 9, 1998). This shows that the land recuperation actions are but the result of the profound frustration felt by our people with regard to the authorities and of the loss of confidence in the Chilean justice system. Justice is done automatically when it comes to defend the interests of large landowners and usurpers; it is always aided by the police and deployed to punish with brute force those Mapuche who demand justice. This sad scenario was seen once more in Concepción on October 8, where uniformed and plainclothes police acted against young Mapuche and winka (non-Mapuche Chilean) students during a peaceful demonstration at the headquarters of CORMA [Corporación de la Madera, a logging business association]. José Llanquileo (19) and Juan Pichicura (24) were wounded and had to be taken to the Concepción Regional Hospital. Abuses of power, racist slurs, and torture perpetrated by the Chilean police against the Mapuche are never investigated, nor are the perpetrators reprimanded, as happened in the case of Juan Carlos Reinao (22); because of its brutality, the case was widely reported in Chile and abroad. One of the students detained still remains in the Temuko public jail: Aníbal Salazar Huillacura (25) who was turned over to the Temuko court, where he was questioned by judge Víctor Reyes, who is in charge of the case [NT: Chilean judges investigate, prosecute and rule on cases in their charge].

Domestic and international public opinion have known about the glaring abuses derived from the controversial project to build a dam and hydroelectric power station in the Upper Bío Bío river; and example of which are the tactics employed by the Spanish company ENDESA to 'persuade' local inhabitants to abandon their lands. The abuses denounced by the Mapuche-Pewenche are many, and include harassment, pressure tactics and all kinds of deceits, all aimed to force the Pewenche to abandon their ancestral lands and to accept the promises to exchange them for ownership of plots in mountainous zones which stay covered by snow the greatest part of the year. Domingo Namuncura is a former director of CONADI who was booted by the government for supporting the rights of the Pewenche and affirming the Indigenous Law, and he clarifies the situation in an interview for the daily La Tercera (August 28, 1998): 'after interviewing 59 Pewenche who had agreed to the land exchange, one arrived at the conclusion that 40 of them were not happy and that their previous consent was due to the way in which the deal's concepts were presented to them, and also to a clear sense of resignation [for what they saw as unavoidable].'

The Pewenche have said that the company assured them they had no choice, and that the project would be carried out despite their unwillingness; they were told that if they did not sign the agreements they would lose everything, since -according to them- the project had been approved by the President of the Republic. The President repeatedly underscored this last point to the press in several declarations where he expressed being in favour of the construction of dams. Further substantiation of his position was provided by the subsequent revelation that President Eduardo Frei himself is one of the project's shareholders.

We do not want to create the impression that the situation of other indigenous peoples of the world is better than ours; nevertheless, let's look in particular to the United States, whose total indigenous population is, in relative terms, less than that of the Mapuche in relation to Chile. Many of these nations [in the U.S.] have had their treaties recognised, they make use of their right to self-determination, they have their own governments, education and health systems, their own customs and tax systems, their own police. In addition, they have been compensated for the lands that could not be returned to them, and even more: some receive rental payments for use of the land still occupied by the non-indigenous. And this happens in the most powerful country in the planet. Why? Because there is respect for the rule of law and the governments have had the political wisdom to honour the agreements signed by the State; because they have created policies to encourage integration and historical reconciliation, and also because there exists the certainty that it is possible for peoples of different cultures to share the same land in a civilised and harmonic manner, with mutual respect. Similar situations can be seen with the indigenous of Canada, the aborigines of Australia, the Maori of New Zealand, the Sami of Scandinavia, just to name some.

Chilean laws themselves have started to be used to fight for the recuperation of Mapuche lands that were illegally confiscated by the State. Mapuche lawyer José Lincoqueo has said repeatedly that as far as land tenure disputes go, 'judgement is against the Sate of Chile', because the State is guilty of illegal confiscation of our territory, and the matter should be adjudicated in this framework. In fact, on June 11 1997, Mr Lincoqueo sued the State of Chile at the 13th Civil Court in Santiago, representing the Mapuche-Pewenche community of Paillao Colcuma in the municipality of Tirúa, Arauco province, for the restitution of 26,000 metric hectares of land usurped by logging companies, among them the Forestal Mininco. His arguments are founded in the historical records and reinforced by the terms of the Parliament of Negrete held between the Mapuche nation and the Spanish Crown in 1803, before the creation of the State of Chile. On the side of the Chilean government the suit has been joined by the State Defence Council and Forestal Mininco. This case is unprecedented in the annals of Chilean judicature; the results are yet to be known-the verdict will certainly mark the start of a new stage in the long struggle of the Mapuche people for the recuperation of its ancestral territory.

The Mapuche are not alone

Our Mapuche people are part of an important segment of humankind; according to UN figures, indigenous peoples number more than 300 million. According to UNPO (Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation), we are more than 600 million. Whatever the figure and the status conferred on them (some peoples, like the Mapuche, are not recognised by their national constitutions and therefore are technically non-existent) the truth is that these peoples are a reality, and they continue to speak out from all corners of the planet. They are the peoples that fight for the noblest of ideals, for values and principles that are universally recognised and on which Christian western civilisation is founded; they struggle for justice, freedom, the right to live in ancestral lands; they are they ones who fight against racism and intolerance and in favour of the recognition of cultural diversity. They are the peoples who are in the forefront of the battle against the depredating incursions of the transnational companies; they are the ones who defend the tropical forests, the rain forests of the Amazon, the Philippines or Indonesia.

Their contributions to civilisation was recognised at the Rio de Janeiro Summit of 1992, as declared in its Agenda 21, as they are the ones that for generations have developed a sustainable life system in harmony with the  land and with Nature. This is a pressing concern for all those who wish to preserve ecological balance and diversity and to ensure the future of the planet and its inhabitants.

The Mapuche, just like other indigenous peoples of the world, are not alone. The indigenous peoples of Chile and Argentina are receiving growing support from all social and political groups, including Chileans and Mapuche living abroad. Numerous people believe in the need to create a more equitable and truly democratic society; we refer especially to those people who fight along the indigenous to preserve the environment and the ecosystems endangered by the acts of the multinationals; whose who question the economic order and the uncontrolled proliferation of [development] projects justified in the name of a supposed 'common good' or 'national interest' detrimental to the interests and the rights of the indigenous peoples and to legality itself. We refer to those who protest and raise their voices alongside the Mapuche Pewenche against the construction of the dams in the Upper Bío Bío.

This growing current of Chilean voices received an important recognition from the international community, as on October 7 1998 it was awarded the Alternative Nobel Prize (Right Livelihood Award). This prize was given to Juan Pablo Orrego, president of GABB (Action Group for the Bío Bío) in recognition for his contribution to the country and to humankind with his defence of the environment. This international recognition also stresses the righteousness of his struggle and does away with the propaganda that sought to put down his positions and dismiss them as 'ecoterrorist' or 'extremist'. The activities of this group -and others similar to it- constitute undoubtedly a significant appeal for a national awareness about the problem of the environment and for a constructive debate within society. At the same time they serve as warnings about the adverse effects on the indigenous communities and on the effects on the environment that accompany the implementation of certain development projects now under way in Chile.

It is also encouraging to see that a growing number of Chileans admit that there is a historical debt to be paid to the indigenous peoples, which the State must see to. There are also those who makes efforts to create the conditions necessary to construct a multicultural and multiethnic Chile, which are solid bases to enhance the process of democratisation of Chilean society and to create the coordinates for a true historical reconciliation with the original inhabitants of the country.

To conclude, and in relation to the repressive wave unleashed by the government: our Mapuche people and its organisations, along with those Chileans who struggle to build a more just and equitable country for all, must join forces, must respond and explore forms of defence that are active but non-violent, with the aim of changing the anti-indigenous ways of the current government and so prevent an indigenous outburst, which would have unpredictable consequences for the stability of the country.

By R Marhikewun

Translater by Roberto Castillo
Liaison Officer
Mapuche International Link
Associate Professor
Latin American and Iberian Studies
Haverford College
Haverford, Pennsylvania, USA

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