The Fight of the Mapuches in Patagonia

The community of Pillan Mahuiza campaigns for land, identity and a dignified life.

By Claudia Korel, special correspondent for the Lientur Collective 21 January 2004

Moira Millan is a Mapuche woman who, together with her family, forms a part of the community of Pillan Mahuiza. On 24 December 1999 they moved onto 150 hectares of land in the municipality of Corcovado in the Patagonian province of Chubut; land which had been in the possession of the provincial police. They have been living there ever since, facing up to threats from the police, from the judiciary and from an entire system which sees a sense of identity as nothing more than an obstacle in the way of the continued advance of its policies of despoliation. Among the new owners of territories in Patagonia are Benetton, George Soros, Perez Companc and showbusiness personalities such as Jeremy Irons and Ted Turner as well as, of course, North American and European companies interested in taking over this region for strategic purposes. This is the land where the ancestors of the Mapuche people lie at rest, having been dislocated in the same way as their grandchildren……. the communities which now continue to resist in defence of both their land and their dignity.

The community of Pillan Mahuiza has played a prominent role in a number of important demonstrations, such as the one that took place in the Plaza de Mayo in March 2003. They were joined by organizations of striking workers and popular assemblies to campaign against the auctioning off of Patagonia and to show solidarity with the battles of the people of Esquel to prevent the mining company Meridian Gold from establishing itself on their land. This company is aiming to start mining for gold in the region, thereby threatening not only to ravage these natural riches but also to contaminate the water with cyanide which is used in the mining process. The people of Pillan Mahuiza, along with other Mapuche communities, also organized a roadblock on 11 October 2002. They have found themselves up before the courts as a result of these actions and have been indicted by the provincial judiciary of misappropriating land. This particular lawsuit has been in the hands of the Public Prosecutor since 2001. In January 2003 the federal judiciary tried Moira Millan and Martiniano Jones Huala for the roadblock of 11 October. (Who will try those who have torn apart these peoples' history, culture and way of life since that other famous twelfth of October?*)

Moira Millan explained to us that such lawsuits will only increase, bearing in mind that they are but one group amongst the many thousands of men and women who fall victim to the policy of criminalising social protest. There have always been a wide variety of different forms of repression which follow in the wake of the plundering and devastation taking place in this region. These lands are reservoirs of drinking water, of oil and other mineral riches, of biodiversity; they hold potential for tourism and are of geostrategic importance in the policies of domination favoured by transnational corporations.

Along with the land itself, Moira Millan is at the same time recovering much of the culture of her people, its music and traditions. She is also getting to understand the authorities and their various forms of aggression as she now finds herself not only threatened by possible eviction from her land but also by the possibility that her four children will be taken away from her.

The father of the two oldest children - linked to the Justicialista Party in the province - has already put forward two petitions in the courts to ask that they be taken away, owing to the fact that they are in an insecure situation whilst living on misappropriated land.

He lost the first petition and the outcome of the second set of proceedings is that the court will allow the children to continue living with their mother but only under certain conditions. These include the requirement that the children be sent to school, which would cost $300 every month in transport (yet no one has taken responsibility for paying this).

This is the manner in which the State continues its attempts at subjugation. As Moira Millan commented: "Such a thing as education, which should be a right, has turned into a new form of oppression. It is a way of forcing us to choose: either we lose our land or we lose our children. What we are asking is that the State cover the cost of transporting the children to school and if not, that they respect our autonomy in the way we educate our children in the community."

In a recent press release, the Pillan Mahuiza community revealed the interests behind these new threats. They reported that not long ago the new governor Mario Das Neves (who came into his post with the support of Kirchner) warned that he will drive forward all lawsuits presented to the courts by the Public Prosecutor. As they said: "These include those of our community in which we have been accused by the provincial judiciary of misappropriating land after moving onto 150 hectares of land which had been held in the possession of the police. The police originally obtained this land by violently evicting 30 Mapuche families back in 1939, protecting, as they have done in the past, the private property of the rich. This new push with regards to these lawsuits coincides with President Kirchner's announcement of a plan to construct five hydroelectric dams. These dams will affect the Corcovado river and one of them will be built only 3 kilometres away from our community. This means that many of our families who live here will have to move. It is not known how many families will be affected and no information has been made available as to the environmental and social impact of such a huge hydroelectric undertaking. It has been said that whoever owns the title to the land will have it put under a compulsory purchase order and be offered a little bit more than the market value for it. Our question is: will they evict those of us who do not own the titles to our land? We, as native peoples, have found ourselves turned into refugees as a consequence of development, with our lands flooded, our forests cut down, our soil contaminated."

In an interview with an official from the Ministry of Social Action, Moira Millan presented both these and other problems for discussion but says she has received no positive response. She camped out from Monday till midday today in the Plaza de Mayo, along with representatives of other Mapuche communities from Chubut and the indigenous Guarani community of El Tabacal. The people of this community were also recently evicted from their lands and also put on trial for misappropriation in a case which was put to the courts by the San Martin Refinery of El Tabacal, which is owned by the multinational Seabord Corporation. After their demonstration in the Plaza de Mayo they presented a set of demands to the government, which included a request for the release of the ten striking workers of the General Mosconi Unemployed Workers Union who have been imprisoned in Salta (they are known as the oil prisoners). Each community then returned to their own land but with no solutions. After coming face to face with officials from the national government, Moira Millan said she now believes the fight will only become harder.

She thinks once again about her four children and then starts to ask us: "Do you think the women's movement would help us in the fight to stop them taking away my children? Do you think feminists would come out onto the streets with us to resist this attempt at subjugation by a patriarchal culture? Do you think the workers who are out on strike would block the roads when the government comes to evict us? Do you think human rights organisations would look upon our abandonment as a part of their struggle? Do you think that those who talk about sovereignty, independence, will understand that our language includes using even our bodies to express the truth? That along with uncovering the human rights violations that took place in the past, they would prevent the depredations which are still taking place every day?"

* The 12 October is the anniversary of the arrival of Christopher Columbus to the Americas in 1492.