INTERNATIONAL CALL TO DENOUNCE THE CHILEAN STATE’S BRUTAL REPRESSIVE CAMPAIGN AGAINST MAPUCHE COMMUNITIES IN THE MOUNTAINS OF LONKIMAY

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Lonkimay, January 16, 2020

Today, we make a call to the national and international community, to our people, to the mobilized Chilean society at large, to advocates of the human rights of Indigenous peoples in Wallmapu (Mapuche territory) and around the world, to all students, workers, scholars, artists, and people who stand in solidarity with us to denounce a recent repressive practice of the Chilean state against the Mapuche nation. Over the past couple of days, militarized police have set fire to the homes and belongings of children and members of the Mapuche communities Camargo-Millaleo, Caciana Ñanco, and Pelan Mawida, who are exercising their territorial rights in the Mallin del Treile lof (ancestral territory) in the Lonkimay region.


History will tell how on January 15, 2020, Hernan Trizano Avezzana – Chile’s “Buffalo Bill,” the precursor of the Chilean Police that was established in the late 19th century, the man who set fire to the homes of our grandparents with the help of his policemen, and who killed our people and pushed the survivors to live the mountains – came back to our territory once again. Leading the contemporary militarized police of the Chilean state, they set fire to nearly 50 homes and all kinds of goods, domestic tools, winter clothing, and bedding that belonged to families who had settled in the so-called “La Fusta Estate,” a place that we have re-named Azkintuwe, reclaiming its original name.



This grave action – which has been witnessed and documented by our community members – cannot remain unpunished and seen as just one more brutal act of the Chilean Police. This is a dangerous case of violation of the collective human rights of our nation as a whole. This action revives and strengthens a cruel approach – the razed land method or tierra arrasada – used by Chile and its European settlers in order to illegitimately grab 95% of our territory just over a hundred years ago. Any organization that self-identifies as a promoter and/or protector of human rights, and which fails to denounce or help investigate the developments just described, can only be understood as a shallow façade serving those in power.

Chilean society has witnessed and experienced the criminal actions of militarized police over the last months – therefore, they know what we are talking about. We also appeal to everyone’s conscience, inviting people to understand our struggle and to support the idea that the Mapuche nation is doing nothing more that exercising its territorial rights, which were stripped away and extinguished through blood and fire, something that continues happening today.

To conclude, people on the affected territory appreciate all forms of support and solidarity that have taken place, both within the territory and beyond. As we agreed at our last Koyagtun (gathering) on January 10-12 this year, this solidarity will allow us to move forward our process of territorial control and reconstruction with more strength as a nation, as opposed to just operating as a collection of individual communities.

We also announce the presentation of all pertinent legal actions in our power in order to demand justice. Therefore, we extend an invitation to all interested people to stand with us this coming Monday, January 20 at 12:30pm in front of the Temuco Court of Appeal, where we will file a writ of protection.

From Mapuche-Pewenche territory,

Comunidad Camargo Millaleo
Comunidad Caciana Ñanco
Comunidad Pelan Mawida

Mapuche Territorial Alliance (ATM)

Comunicaciones PuLofMapuXawün