Guardians of the land on hunger strike for more than 40 days
The hunger strike that the Chilean press ignores
Monday 24th April, 2006
To the Mapuche people from the Gulumapu, to Mapuche organisations and to the Chilean people: this is not a press release or letter - it is a desperate cry for help. It is a dignified plea that hopes to open eyes and ears, outstretch arms and strive for a better life.
Today the struggle, indignation and pain overwhelms us.
After 40 days on hunger strike, our Mapuche brothers and sisters, incarcerated in the Angol prison in Southern Chile, demand the annulment of the Poluco Podenco case and their immediate release. Their imprisonment is unjust, and is the decision of a racist and destructive state that defends the interests of the forestry companies who continue stripping our Mapu (land) and imprisoning the guardians of this land.
The hunger strike continues and with it lives are put at risk. Your indifference will make you complicit in the destruction of our nation that the Chilean state is perpetrating; the destiny our brothers and sisters is in your hands, their freedom or imprisonment - their life or death - rests on your commitment.
Please forward this request for solidarity. The Chilean mainstream media and racist landlords have common interests in the destructive and pillaging forestry companies. They have decided that you, Chilean brother and sister, are only interested in the new silicone implants of fashion models, in the scandal of some famous actress' love life or the love affairs of famous sports players. Nothing has been said in the media of the Mapuche political prisoners. Those who control mass media have decided that this story is not news; they have silenced and hidden the subject in order that you do not hear about it - so that you don't get angry about it. Let's break this silence, let's break the dictatorship of the media.
On Tuesday 25th April at 12 o'clock we will meet at the Moneda Palace to present the President elect Michell Bachelet with the signatures of hundreds of people who demand the immediate release of Patricia Troncoso Robles, Jaime Marileo Saravia, Juan Carlos Huenulao and Patricio Marileo Saravia.
Gathering at the Moneda Palace could mean repression and even arrest; this simple inoffensive and democratic act is often not permitted in this country.
For this reason, we need to be thousands and, with dignity, we must highlight the hypocrisy and banality of the Chilean media so that they stop underestimating this nation that must now wake up. The fight of the Mapuche people is not sectorial; it is more than this - it is about connecting the defence of the land with the defence of life.
We must all meet tomorrow at 12 midday at the Moneda Palace, ecologists, unionists, ex-political prisoners, students, teachers, housewives, workers, the unemployed, artists, musicians, serious journalists who are committed to the truth, democratic politicians, but above all we want to see there the Mapuche organisations and the 350,000 Mapuches who live in Santiago.
For the annulment of the Poluco Podenco judgement and the immediate release of the Mapuche political prisoners of Angol!
Marici We!!
Moira Millan from Santiago
Pillan Mahuiza Mapuche Community
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Translated by Katy Brickley
Mapuche International Link
Note: The demonstration that took place at the Moneda Palace was brutally repressed. 17 demonstrators were detained, many more injured, and among them was Moira Millan.