Detachments of soldiers in areas of southern Chile left the site on Sunday (27), almost six months after being moved to the region where there are constant attacks attributed to Mapuche indigenous groups, who are demanding the return of territories.
The militarization of some provinces in the regions of La AraucanÃa and BiobÃo, about 600 km south of Santiago, was ordered by former President Sebastián Piñera (2018-2022) in October, amid an increase in attacks and killings in the area – where defense groups also operate under the command of forestry companies, which own the lands claimed by indigenous peoples.
Right-aligned Piñera has at various times used anti-terrorism law and hardline policies to disperse Mapuche protests. For the Mapuche representatives, people who were detained in these clashes are political prisoners.
The instruction, ratified ten times by Congress, was not renewed by the government of Gabriel Boric, the youngest president in Latin America, who at age 36 took office on March 11 – and who seeks to establish dialogue in the area, where the majority live. of the Mapuche indigenous communities.
The end of militarization “does not imply that the government is not concerned and does not have the task of guaranteeing the security of all Chilean citizens,” undersecretary of the Interior, Manuel Monsalve, told the press during a visit to the region.
Four days after Boric took office, the country’s interior minister, Izkia Siches, the most important government post after the president, was ambushed on his way to the Mapuche community of Temucuicui, where state agents are not allowed access. Her entourage was stopped, shots were fired into the air, and she had to be evacuated.
The lack of dialogue and solutions have led to an escalation of violence in the last decade in the region – where the role of drug trafficking networks and defense groups has also been revealed.
The Mapuche, many of whom live in poverty, are demanding the return of land they occupied before the arrival of Spanish colonists, and which today are territories spread across southern Chile and Argentina.
