Mapuche International Solidarity Network

2008-05-13T06:25:00.001-07:00

CHILE SENATORS PRESENT “PRO DAM” RESOLUTION
Written by Benjamin Witte
Monday, 12 May 2008

http://www.patagoniatimes.cl/content/view/502/1/

The Pascua, one of two rivers targeted by HidroAysén project.
Photo by Benjamin Witte

HidroAysén Opponents Say Resolution Is "Hypocritical"

Four of Chile’s most influential senators are hoping Congress will soon
pass a non-binding resolution defending the country’s right to develop
hydroelectric projects. The motion – presented last week by Senate
President Adolfo Zaldivar, an independent, National Renovation Sens.
Andrés Allamand and Antonio Horvath, and Christian Democratic Sen.
Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle – is widely interpreted as supporting the
controversial HidroAysén dam project.
The resolution recognizes the importance of hydroelectric generation for
Chile’s “progress.” It also criticizes what the senators claim to be
unwanted interference by foreign environmental interests. The Senate is
expected to vote on the issue sometime later this week.

“There is an intense publicity campaign both in Chile and abroad to
block development in the country of hydroelectric generation projects,”
the resolution reads. That campaign, the document goes on to say, “is
organized by outside organizations and foreign individuals whose
explicit goal is to interfere in the national energy policy.”

The resolution defends the Chilean government’s ongoing efforts to
diversify the country’s electricity matrix and invest in renewable
sources of energy. Diversification should include continued development
of the country’s vast hydroelectric potential, the senators insist.

“Hydroelectric energy is a competitive, low-impact alternative (to
fossil fuel-based electricity) that can be taken advantage of in the
short and medium term,” the document reads.

The non-binding resolution appears to defend the embattled HidroAysén
dam project, slated for far southern Chile’s Region XI (Aysén).
HidroAysén is a joint entity created by Spanish-Italian electricity
giant Endesa and Colbún, a Chilean company. Together the powerful
utilities plan to build five dams – two along the Baker River and three
along the Pascua – that combined would represent some 2,750 MW of
potential electricity.

The motion is also seen as a direct attack on high-profile U.S.
environmentalists such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Douglas Tompkins,
known critics of HidroAysén’s estimated US$3 billion plan. The project,
say Tompkins, Kennedy Jr. and other members of the so-called Patagonia
sin Represas (Patagonia without Dams) campaign, will devastate the
pristine Baker and Pascua Rivers.

Even more worrisome, say critics of the project, is a proposed
2,300-kilometer transmission line that would be needed to carry the
electricity from Region XI to energy hungry central Chile. The power
line, they say, would cut through countless acres of both protected and
unprotected wilderness area and pave the way for future industrial
development in the region.

“This is a mega-monster project,” Tompkins told the Patagonia Times
earlier this year. “They’re talking about running these friggin’ power
lines all the way up to Santiago and they’re going to disfigure the
landscapes between here and there. And they’re winding all over. You
should see a copy of the proposed (route). It’s a spaghetti type of thing.”

The “pro-dam” resolution is being hotly contested by HidroAysén’s many
critics, who consider it hypocritical that Sens. Horvath, Zaldivar,
Allamand and Frei object so strongly to the U.S. environmental lobby yet
apparently welcome the presence of Endesa and other foreign companies.

In a public declaration issued this past Sunday, a group of 40 different
environmental, Mapuche and other citizen groups lambasted Sens. Horvath
and Zaldivar (who represent Region XI) for turning a “deaf ear” to their
constituents.

“It’s paradoxical,” the groups went on to say, “that people who accept
the fact that our water – a strategic and national asset that’s used by
everyone – is concentrated in the hands of private multinational
electric companies would criticize those Chileans and foreigners who, in
an effort to protect the ecosystems on which present and future Chileans
will depend, want (the water) to be returned to Chilean hands.”

Before moving ahead with the polemical dam project, HidroAysén must
first gain approval from the government’s National Environmental
Commission (CONAMA). The company, which hopes to begin construction
before the end of the decade, says it will hand CONAMA a requisite
environmental impact report later this year.

By Benjamin Witte ( benwitte@santiagotimes.cl

Mapuche International Solidarity Network
mapucheinternationalsolidarity@gmail.com

2008-04-30T19:24:00.001-07:00

CHILE INDIGENOUS POLICY REPORT SLAMS CELCO AND PASCUA LAMA PROJECTS
Written by Matt Malinowski
Wednesday, 30 April 2008

http://www.patagoniatimes.cl/content/view/478/1/

The Chilean government’s approval of large-scale business projects
—
including forestry company CELCO’s waste duct to the Pacific Ocean
and
mining company Barrick Gold's Pascua Lama gold mine in the Andes
mountains — now represent the most severe threat to the country's
indigenous communities, according to a report filed last week by
Chile's
Observatory for Indigenous Rights (ODPI).

The finding, authored by co-directors José Aylwin and Nancy Yáñez,
was
part an ODPI-led probe into Chilean government indigenous policies.

Speaking at a Friday press conference, Aylwin and Yáñez identified
native communities' lack of legal representation, absence in both
private and government-led initiatives and, above all, lack of
territorial rights as the three most serious deficiencies in Chilean
indigenous legislation.

ODPI, one of Chile's leading authorities on indigenous rights, said
that
Chilean laws do not sufficiently incorporate indigenous communities'
opinions in government programs which directly involve them. Aylwin
said
Chilean policies do not respect indigenous communities' political
autonomy, arguing that “government policy should recognize and accept

that these diverse populations have the right to define their own plans

for community development, and that these plans should not be
superimposed by other entities.”

Still, Aylwin and Yáñez directed their most acerbic criticisms
towards
what they described as the growing tendency to exploit natural
resources
found on indigenous lands. They named the mining, energy, and forestry
industries as three of the most flagrant violators of indigenous
rights,
saying that they often usurp indigenous lands against the will of
community members.

Speaking alongside Aylwin and Yáñez, members of the Diaguita
indigenous
community lambasted Barrick Gold for disrupting the local indigenous
way
of life in order to develop its Pascua Lama mine. That project, which
is
slated for construction on the border between Chile's Region III and
Argentina, received Chilean government backing in 2006, but tax
disputes
with Argentine officials have prevented construction from beginning.

“Barrick has put up barriers which prevent us from moving freely and
also prevent our animals from grazing,” said Diaguita member Angelina

Espinoza. “This limits our community's development . . . and if we
get
close to that barrier, they (Barrick employees) threaten us even though

the only thing we are doing is defending our rights. We are the
legitimate owners of these lands; we have papers from 1903 which
corroborate this. But, here in Chile, we neither receive the help nor
the (government) response that we need.”

“Barrick has contaminated our drinking water, just like all the
multinational companies which have begun to operate in the region,”
she
added. “These are companies which have robbed us of our lands. Still,

nothing is said about it . . . they have crossed into our ancestral
territory.”

Yáñez echoed Espinoza's remarks, saying that when native communities
organize themselves to defend their lands, companies turn to
business-friendly Chilean regulations so that “the leaders of the
affected (indigenous) communities end up being persecuted and for
making
legitimate demands.”

She also criticized cellulose manufacturer CELCO for violating the way
of life of Mapuche indigenous communities located near the Region XIV
town of Mehuin. Violent incidents have occurred in recent weeks between

fishermen (including some of Mapuche descent) who oppose CELCO’s
waste
duct line through their community by CELCO, and neighboring fishermen
who have accepted a cash payoff for acquiescing to the company’s
ocean
duct proposal. In response to the violence, a lawsuit has been brought
against pro-CELCO fishermen (ST, April 9).

Aylwin and Yáñez argued that the government should solve these
problems
by assuring its indigenous communities are recognized in the country's
constitution. Additionally, they said Chilean authorities should adopt
the original version of the International Labor Organization's (ILO)
Convention 169 on Indigenous Rights, arguing that two of the document
points define standards concerning indigenous communities' political
participation and land protection.

In early March, Chile’s Senate approved a version of the ILO's
“Convention 169” on indigenous rights with a clause allowing the
government to “interpret” the declaration’s main points (ST,
March 6).
The decision has provoked outrage from Chile's leading indigenous and
human rights advocates, who have publicly urged Chilean President
Michelle Bachelet to veto the altered document.

The ODPI report comes weeks after President Bachelet unveiled several
new measures that will define government indigenous policies for her
final two years in office.

As part of the reforms, Bachelet said that the government will create a

new under-secretariat for indigenous affairs, which will be controlled
by the nation’s planning ministry. Bachelet promised to introduce a
proposal to guarantee indigenous community members seats in Chilean
political organizations, as well as recognize indigenous control over
natural resources that lie within their territories.

She also announced that the government-run National Corporation for
Indigenous Development (CONADI) will distribute plots of land to 115
different native groups by 2010 and respond to land requests from 308
other communities (ST, April 3).

Still, Bachelet’s announcement drew heated criticism from Aylwin and

Yáñez, who criticized the initiative for not doing enough to return
land
to indigenous communities.

“Most of the lands which have been transferred to indigenous
populations
are government lands. Therefore, the government is only doing now what
it should have done years ago,” Aylwin said. “The government is not

making any additional efforts to turn over lands to their legitimate
owners.”

By Matt Malinowski (editorATsantiagotimes.cl)

Mapuche International Solidarity Network
mapucheinternationalsolidarity@gmail.com

Proesta en apoyo parte 2

2008-03-04T16:36:00.001-08:00

The Colours at the end of the World

2008-02-25T16:47:00.001-08:00

2008-02-25T16:46:00.000-08:00

Mapuche International Solidarity Network
mapucheinternationalsolidarity@gmail.com

2008-02-14T17:03:00.000-08:00

MAPUCHE CONFLICT: CHILE GOV’T FLIP FLOPS AS ABUSES CONTINUE

Despite the government’s professed openness to resolving the Mapuche
conflict, human rights abuses against indigenous people continue in
Chile.

http://www.tcgnews.com/santiagotimes/index.php?nav=story&story_id=15735&topic_id=1

Last week JosÈ Aylwin, co-director of the Observatory for Indigenous
Rights (ODPI) and son of former president Patricio Aylwin, submitted a
scathing letter to Interior Minister PÈrez Yoma detailing serious
human
rights abuses committed by the Carabineros police force against nine
Mapuche detainees in the Region IX city of Ercilla. Aylwin’s letter,
based on testimonies from the nine detainees, recounts in detail the
police tactics he says “can be qualified as torture.”

The nine men were arrested early this month during a two-day public
festival celebrating the anniversary of the city of Ercilla.
Carabineros
apprehended the men individually, claiming they were causing a
disturbance. Aylwin cites witnesses who attest that the festival was a
peaceful gathering with no motive of political or social agitation. The

nine men maintain they were attending the festival for celebratory
purposes only. They are now being held at the Collipulli
commissioner’s
office under charges of public disorder and attacking police officers.

Aylwin claims the arrests were “arbitrary detentions” and that
Carabineros acted “without these men having done anything to warrant
apprehension.” The police did not ask for identification when
arresting
the men nor did they offer reasons for the apprehension.

Even more disturbing, however, is the physical abuse endured by the
Ercilla detainees. Four of the men, upon being taken to the
commissioner’s office, were tied to posts and left there more than 13

hours in police custody while being interrogated and beaten by
Carabineros. The report goes on to describe one detainee who had to get

stitches on his head after a police officer beat him with the butt end
of a gun.

In the letter, Aylwin asks PÈrez Yoma to investigate the
Carabineros’
treatment of these and other Mapuche prisoners. He also sent a copy to
Rodolfo Stavenhagen, special relater to the United Nations for human
rights and indigenous liberties. Stavenhagen has been outspoken against

the Chilean government’s indigenous rights policies.

In the meantime, Carabineros have upped police presence in this
northern
district of Region IX. Residents of Temucuicui, a Mapuche town located
12 kilometers from Ercilla, released a public declaration Tuesday
describing a massive influx of special police forces in their small
community of 120 families.

Temucuicui has been a focal point for conflict between Mapuche and the
police forces that regularly patrol the area. Tuesday’s declaration
denounces the unnecessary militarization of this small settlement,
including the presence of helicopters, tanks, air planes, and an
increased force of police officers decked in riot gear.

As human rights abuses continue in Ercilla, the Chilean government is
still vacillating on the issue of how to resolve indigenous conflict.
Government spokesperson Francisco Vidal said this week that Chile is
open to visits from foreign observers to intervene in the Mapuche
conflict. His comment puts an end to the government’s ongoing debate
on
the matter.

The issue arose last week when the United Nations, along with several
international human rights organizations, sent a petition to President
Michelle Bachelet requesting permission to intervene. Interior Minister

Eduardo PÈrez Yoma responded to the request by saying that
intervention
from foreign observers would be “a welcome help for this problem.”
His
statement, however, spurred backlash from government spokesperson
Augusto Prado, who insisted Friday that, “Chile doesn’t need other
people to tell us how to solve our own problems” (ST, Feb. 11).

Vidal, in an attempt to smooth over the debate, concluded Monday that
Chile’s government, as a democracy, maintains an open-door policy to
any
foreign organization that wants to visit Chile. He went on to say,
however, that this does not constitute a formal invitation to these
international groups.

Paulina Acevedo, spokesperson for ODPI, called Vidal’s statement a
small
but important step in approaching resolution. “The current conflict
in
the Mapuche community is the result of a prolonged lack of concern
about
indigenous rights, and only now is the government beginning to address
that shortcoming,” she told the Santiago Times.

The Bachelet administration has also been weighing a proposal made by
the National Corporation for Indigenous Development (CONADI) to create
a
Ministry of Indigenous Issues. Two weeks ago Bachelet nominated
Rodgrigo
EgaÒa as commissioner of indigenous issues. CONADI, however, wants the

government to go one step further and create a more permanent office to

deal with the matter.

In a statement to the press Tuesday, Secretary General to the President

JosÈ Antonio Viera-Gallo expressed interest in the proposal, but the
government has yet to take any concrete measures to create the proposed

ministry. (Ed. Note: Please see related feature story in today’s
Santiago Times.)

SOURCES: LA TERCERA, EL MERCURIO
By Alex Cacciari

Mapuche International Solidarity Network
mapucheinternationalsolidarity@gmail.com

2008-02-06T18:57:00.001-08:00

CHILE: MAPUCHE HUNGER STRIKE OVER, VIOLENCE CONTINUES

http://www.tcgnews.com/santiagotimes/index.php?nav=story&story_id=15729&topic_id=1

Pro-Mapuche activist Patricia Troncoso was transferred at 1 a.m. Monday
morning from a Chill·n clinic to Region IX’s Temuco Hospital. The
activist ended her 112-day hunger strike last week after the Chilean
government agreed to meet her demands. Doctors say Troncoso is
recuperating well from the harsh effects of her prolonged fast. Troncoso
reached an agreement with President Michelle Bachelet last Wednesday
after some deliberation. The benefits granted Troncoso include weekend
leave for her and two fellow Mapuche activists, as well as the right to
continue her sentence in the semi-open Angol Work Center (ST, Jan. 30).

Despite Troncoso’s good spirits about her recovery, however, her mood
altered last Thursday upon learning that Walter RamÌrez, the police
officer who shot Mapuche activist MatÌas Catrileo in early January (ST,
Jan. 4), has been released from the Special Forces Prison in Angol.

“The Mapuche will never enjoy due process of law because the State has
pre-emptively judged the Mapuche cause,” she said in a communique from
the hospital. “MatÌas Catrileo was assassinated...this case must be
judged in a civilian tribunal.”

Catrileo’s mother, MÛnica Quezada, reacted somewhat differently,
insisting that RamÌrez’ release was not a reversal of justice because
the Carabinero still awaits trial.

Meanwhile, violence continues to ravage Region IX, where people of
direct Mapuche descent make up roughly 25 percent of the population. Two
attacks on trucks occurred last week near Temuco, the regional capital.
The first truck was stopped Friday by seven hooded people shooting
firearms and attempting to blockade the road into Vilc·n. The second
incident occurred just minutes later when a different group of about 20
people forced a driver to get out of his truck on the road to Temuco and
proceeded to set the truck on fire with Molotov cocktails.

Interior Undersecretary Felipe Harboe said there is no proof that links
last week’s attacks to Mapuche groups. “I think it’s not fair to
stigmatize the Mapuche community. It was a violent minority who
committed these acts,” he said.

Archbishop Ricardo Ezzatti has also spoken out about the stigmatization
of the Mapuche. “From the experiences I have had, and this is what I
believe, the Mapuche are a peaceful people,” he said. “I deeply believe
from my experience that (this violence) corresponds to a minority that
doesn't represent Mapuche interests.”

Though government officials hope that last week’s appointment of Rodrigo
EgaÒa as the new presidential commissioner for indigenous issues will
begin a new era of smoother relations between indigenous communities and
the Chilean State, EgaÒa’s role has been heavily critiqued.

JosÈ Santos Millao, an advisor under the National Corporation for
Indigenous Development (CONADI), denounced the creation of EgaÒa’s new
post as an insufficient provision by the government. He called for more
proactive measures in favor of the Mapuche population, including
constitutional recognition and government representation.

In the past several months Mapuche groups have pushed hard for some type
of political autonomy. Last November, the first-ever Mapuche political
party, Wallmapuwen (“Tierra Mapuche”), was formed. The creation of the
new party was strongly influenced and catalyzed by Spanish separatist
groups Batasuna, from Basque Country, and the Galician Nationalist Block
(BNG).

BNG member Bieito Lobeira, a prominent supporter of Mapuche autonomy,
said, “We are not necessarily speaking of independence but of a unique
political structure that would permit the Mapuche community to makes its
own decisions or co-decisions within the states of Argentina and Chile.”

(Ed. Note: See related feature story below – a La Tercera editorial
chastising Bachelet for negotiating with hunger striker Troncoso.)

SOURCES: EL MERCURIO, LA TERCERA, LA NACION
By Alex Cacciari

Mapuche International Solidarity Network
mapucheinternationalsolidarity@gmail.com

2008-02-01T13:32:00.000-08:00

Chile's Mapuche Indians in new battle for lands

29 Jan 2008 17:40:08 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Antonio de la Jara

TEMUCUICUI, Chile, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Chile's Mapuche Indians, the fierce opponents of Spanish conquerors five centuries ago, have renewed their ancestral land demands in a series of clashes with police and private businesses.

Groups of the Mapuche, which means "Earth People" in the Mapudungun tongue, have occupied and burned forestry and farming lands in recent weeks and cut off highways to demand territories they say were stolen from them over the past 500 years.

One Mapuche student was shot dead in a clash with police in southern Chile earlier this month. His funeral was attended by angry youths bearing long sticks called chueca, a traditional weapon of Chile's largest indigenous group.

Faced by mounting protests and a well publicized hunger strike by a jailed indigenous rights activist, Chile's government agreed on Monday to create a high commission for indigenous rights.

The activist, 38-year-old Patricia Troncoso, then ended the 110-day hunger strike during which she lost 26 kg (57 pounds) and was kept alive by intravenous drip.

But the Mapuche want more than a rights commission and are demanding the return of lands taken from them by decrees from the colonial conquests to the 1973-1990 dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

As Chile's economy booms, they accuse the center-left government of protecting corporate interests and repressing their demands with hard-handed tactics like the ones used by Pinochet's police 20 years ago.

"For us there has been no change since democracy started and the military dictatorship ended," said Jorge Huenchullan, a spokesman for the Mapuche in Temucuicui, some 650 kilometers (400 miles) south of the capital Santiago.

Temucuicui is a small settlement with only scattered, rustic buildings and a small school, but it is the focal point for a conflict between the Mapuche and police that constantly patrol its forested hillsides and wheat fields.

"The biggest (police) raids, the most violent, have occurred during the democracy," Huenchullan said.

RESISTANCE

The Mapuche were famed for their resistance of Spanish conquerors and it was a young Mapuche chief, Lautaro, who captured and executed Pedro de Valdivia, Spain's royal governor of Chile, after the Battle of Tucapel in late 1553.

While no one is calling for armed rebellion now, Church leaders and international human rights groups warn the current conflict will escalate unless the government addresses the land issue.

"Lets hope the Commission can advance in resolving the fundamental issues of this conflict for Chilean society as a whole," said Bishop Alejandro Goic, president of the Episcopal Conference of the Roman Catholic Church.

Marches are planned this week in Santiago to support the Mapuche cause and protest the jailing of four Mapuche activists and Troncoso under a Pinochet-era anti-terrorism law.

The five were all sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2002 for setting fire to private lands.

The government insists Troncoso and the others jailed with her are not political prisoners, just people who committed crimes when they burned fields and forests, and business groups want a firmer government hand in dealing with the protests.

"This cannot be tolerated and the government must enforce the law. The guilty must be punished by the justice system," said Fernando Leniz, president of Corma, an industry group of Chile's major forestry companies.

In Temucuicui, where police patrol an area that is home to 120 Mapuche families laying claim to 600 hectares of lands, local leaders call the forestry companies "colonists," like the ones who took their lands five centuries ago.

"The colonists must go, there is no other way," said Huenchullan, the Mapuche spokesman. "We are going to defend our Mapuche rights on the lands that belong to us ... We are decided and will not cede ground." (Writing by Pav Jordan)
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N29600521.htm

Mapuche International Solidarity Network
mapucheinternationalsolidarity@gmail.com

2008-01-31T16:19:00.001-08:00

January 30, 2008

Deal reached for jailed Chilean activist
Roberto Troncoso, Patricia's father, with backers of his daughter last
week at the hospital in Chillan.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mapuche30jan30,1,6203204.story

Patricia Troncoso, a champion of Indian rights, is to complete her
sentence for arson at a work camp, in a church-mediated accord.
By Claudia Lagos and Patrick J. McDonnell, Special to The Times

SANTIAGO, CHILE -- The Chilean government defended its decision Tuesday

to back a church-brokered agreement that ended a months-long hunger
strike by a jailed Indian-rights activist.

A top official in the office of President Michelle Bachelet said
Patricia Troncoso was not granted a pardon and would serve out her
10-year sentence -- albeit in a work camp and not in a prison, and with

weekend leaves.

"She obtained nothing more than the law permitted," Jose Antonio
Viera-Gallo, general secretary to the presidency, told a radio station
here.

Troncoso has served about half her sentence under anti-terrorism laws
for setting fire to a forestry plot -- a charge she denied. The arson
was one of many such attacks by Mapuche Indian militants against
corporate targets in a low-level conflict that has raised tensions in
southern Chile, the Mapuche ancestral homeland.

The hunger strike has focused attention on the plight of the Mapuche
minority. Activists say that despite Chile's economic growth, the
Indians have been left largely landless, impoverished and victims of
police repression.

The government rejected Troncoso's original demands, including the
release of Mapuche "political prisoners" and the "demilitarization" of
Mapuche zones.

Under the deal, Troncoso, who is not a Mapuche, will serve out the
remaining five years of her sentence in a police work camp and will be
allowed to go home on weekends. Two imprisoned Mapuche militants
received similar benefits as part of the pact worked out with the help
of a Roman Catholic bishop.

In addition, Bachelet named a new commissioner charged with finding
ways
to improve life for Chile's Indian minority. Census figures show that
less than 5% of the nation's residents describe themselves as
indigenous.

The deal immediately came under attack from the conservative opposition

to Bachelet, who heads the governing center-left coalition.

"You can't pretend the law applies in some parts of the country and not

in other parts," Sen. Jovino Novoa said here in the capital, calling
the
pact a reward for violence.

Troncoso, 38, ended her fast Monday, 111 days after she began taking
only liquids. She is being held at a hospital in the city of Chillan,
240 miles south of Santiago.

Last week, police doctors fearing for her life began providing her with

intravenous nutrients. Friends and her father described Troncoso as
weak
but lucid.

patrick.mcdonnell

@latimes.com
Special correspondent Lagos reported from Santiago and Times staff
writer McDonnell from Buenos Aires.

Mapuche International Solidarity Network
mapucheinternationalsolidarity@gmail.com

2008-01-29T12:50:00.000-08:00

ENGLISH VERSION

New York, January 29, 2008

The protest on solidarity with our lamngen Patricia Troncoso and with the mapuche nation in general was done this morning in the city of New York at 10 am as programmed.
A group of activists gathered in solidarity with the mapuche political prisoners. The group started marching pacifically towards the Chilean Consulate of New York, outside of the building there was a big number of police contingent, including FBI and federal agents.
We weren’t allowed inside by the police contingent, so we protested outside. After negotiations with the federal agents, two of us escorted by the police were allowed into the consul’s office.
Once we were in the office, the support continued outside the building, while a document sign by several organizations and activists was given to the Chilean consul. The consul said he was warned by the secret agents of the US about the manifestation and that later in the week he heard of it from the Chilean newspaper “La Segunda”. Later on, after the activist spoke with him and told him about the situation affecting the mapuche, he signed an official document where he said he was going to send our demands to the Chilean Government.
The manifestation ended as it started, pacifically, but we announced that we will continue making events in peaceful means on solidarity to help break through the privatized media and spread the word about the problems affecting the mapuche nation. Even though Patricia Troncoso stopped the hunger strike, the militarization of mapuche communities still continues, the environmental degradation of the mapuche communities is still active, the utilization of the anti-terrorist law hasn’t ended against the mapuche, the persecution and assassination of mapuche activists continues (Marco Aurelio Treuer police who shot Alex Lemun in 2002 is still an active police) as there is no real will from the Chilean Government to negotiate from a perspective of nation to nation, and not with paternalistic and repressive politics.

Attached please find the document which was delivered to the Chilean Consul and pictures of the protest (to see more pictures visit our web site). During the next days we will put video recordings in our web site.

http://mapucheinternationalsolidaritynetwork.blogspot.com
We thank you for the diffusion.
Mapuche International Solidarity Network.

SPANISH VERSION

Nueva York, Enero 29 del 2008.

Comunicamos que la protesta en solidaridad con nuestra lamngen Patricia Troncoso y con el pueblo mapuche en general fue realiza esta mañana en la ciudad de Nueva York a eso de las 10 am.
Se reunió un grupo de activistas en solidaridad con los presos políticos mapuche, el cual comenzó a caminar de manera pacifica hacia el Consulado Chileno en Nueva York, fuera del cual esperaba una gran contingente policial, agentes del FBI y de las fuerzas especiales de la policía, los llamados “Swap Team”.
Se nos prohibió el ingreso al consulado por lo cual nos manifestamos en las afueras del recinto. Posteriormente y luego de negociaciones con los agentes federales, se permitió el ingreso de dos miembros al consulado, los cuales fueron escoltados por la policía hasta la oficina del cónsul.
Una vez ahí los manifestantes prosiguieron con la manifestación en la calle, mientras se hacia entrega de un documento en apoyo a los presos políticos mapuche firmado por diversas organizaciones e individuos de Nueva York. El cónsul relato que había sido advertido por los agentes de espionaje de Estados Unidos sobre la manifestación y que posteriormente había sido informado a través del periódico chileno La Segunda sobre la realización de la manifestación. Posteriormente y luego de comentarle la situación al cónsul, este procedió a firmar un documento oficial en el cual se comprometía a enviar nuestras demandas y documento al Gobierno Chileno.
La manifestación termino de forma pacifica, pero se anuncio que se seguirán haciendo eventos para difundir la problemática que afecta al pueblo mapuche, pues si bien nuestra lamngen Patricia Troncoso depuso la huelga de hambre, aún persiste la militarización del Wallmapu, aún no se deroga la ley antiterrorista y la persecución y asesinatos a activistas mapuche continúa vigente (Marcos Aurelio Treuer quien asesinara a Alex Lemun el 2002 continúa ejerciendo como policía) al no existir una respuesta efectiva por parte de las autoridades chilenas para negociar de nación a nación y no con políticas represivas y paternalistas.

Adjunto les enviamos el documento que se presentó al cónsul chileno, además de fotografías del evento (para ver más fotografías visiten nuestro sitio Web). En los próximos días pondremos videos en nuestro sitio Web para continuar difundiendo los hechos.

http://mapucheinternationalsolidaritynetwork.blogspot.com

Agradecemos la difusión.
Red de solidaridad internacional con el pueblo mapuche.

Mapuche International Solidarity Network
mapucheinternationalsolidarity@gmail.com

2008-01-29T11:12:00.000-08:00

Mapuche International Solidarity Network
mapucheinternationalsolidarity@gmail.com

2008-01-29T11:03:00.000-08:00

ENGLISH VERSION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: RodStarz 646.250.4405

Confrontation in front of Chilean Consulate in support of convicted Chilean ‘terrorist’ Patricia Troncoso; protesters demand her release and acknowledgement by the Chilean government of Mapuche peoples ancestral rights.

Yesterday marked the end of a 110-day hunger strike by convicted Chilean ‘terrorist’ Patricia Troncoso, a well known pro-Mapuche rights activist. Until now, the Chilean government, led by President Michelle Bachelet, has virtually ignored Troncoso’s protest, responding with silence to her and the Mapuche natives’ demands.

Today, January 29, 2008, Hip Hop collective Rebel Diaz- along with community organizations La Pena Del Bronx, and the Mapuche Internacional Solidarity Network- are gathering at the Chilean Consulate to express our support for Patricia Troncoso and her struggle for Mapuche human rights. Although the Chilean government has finally agreed to negotiate with Ms. Troncoso, it is imperative they enter all dialogue ready to fulfill the demands of the Mapuche nation, who for hundreds of years have suffered political repression, militarization of ancestral lands, and increased economic marginalization at the hands of the Chilean and Argentinian governments.

As students, artists, activists, immigrants, and workers, we are delivering letters and gathering at the Chilean consulate to demand that Michelle Bachelet and the Chilean Governmentin fulfill the following demands set forth by Patricia Troncoso and the Mapuche Nation:

 That the Chilean government repeal Anti-Terrorist laws enacted during the Pinochet regime, which serve as tools of political repression against Mapuche activists by restricting free speech and other forms of dissent. Free those Mapuche activists convicted under these unjust laws!
 That the Chilean government demilitarize all Mapuche ancestral lands, and stop perpetuating genocidal policies against the Mapuche people through military and police brutality, murders, and other human rights violations.
 That the Chilean government assume responsibility in solving the murders of pro Mapuche rights activists Alex Lemus and Matias Catrileo.
 That the Chilean government make good on their historical debt to the Mapuche people by engaging in bilateral dialogue as one sovereign nation to another, not with repression and paternalism as they have in the past.

Statement from native Mapuche Danko Mariman who came from Boston to join the march today:

“The activism and resistance of the Mapuche people are not acts of terrorism. The real terrorism is the neoliberal economic model imposed by the Chilean governement since the Pinochet regime, which has allowed environmental devastation of Mapuche ancestral lands, displacement of Mapuche people in favor of foreign corporate interests, and non-acknowledgement of the sovereignty of the Mapuche people. In the spirit of true democracy and pluralism, we must demand that the Mapuche and other native peoples of the Americas be acknowledged as a soveriegn people and treated as such in inter-American nation-state dialogue.”

Statement from Rodstarz of the Hip Hop collective Rebel Diaz:

“Today we make a calling for solidarity with the Mapuche people amongst activists in the Unites States and across the world. The same neo-liberal economic policies that marginalize and displace our Mapuche brothers and sisters in Latin America also affect us as young people of color in New York City. Young gang members are convicted under federal Anti-Terrorism laws as opposed to be being rehabilitated and granted access to real life opportunities; families lose their homes in the Bronx as gentrification pushes rent and property tax sky high; police disproportionately target, harass, brutalize, and murder black and brown youth. As representatives of the Hip Hop generation, we support the Mapuche in their struggle for the human right to live and prosper as a sovereign people.”

This gathering is for Patricia Troncoso, our Mapuche brothers and sisters, for our land, and for our lives!

SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS

Mapuche International Solidarity Network
Hip-Hop collective Rebel Diaz
Movimiento La Pena del Bronx
Comité Permanente por Chile- Chicago
Colectivo Miguel Enriquez
Colectiveo Joaquin Murieta
Miristas Chilenos y Latino Americanos
Pueblo Afroamericano-Latino
Mapuche Internacional Solidarity Network

New York, NY 01/29/08 12:36am

CONTACT: Rodstarz 646.250.4405

SPANISH VERSION

PARA DEFUCION INMEDIATA
Contacto: Rodstarz 646.250.4405

Confrontación en frente del consulado Chileno en apoyo a la acusada de ‘terrorista’ Chilena Patricia Troncoso; manifestantes demandan su libertad y que el gobierno Chileno reconozca los derechos ancestrales del pueblo Mapuche.

Ayer marco el fin de una huelga de hambre de 110 días por parte de la acusada de ‘terrorista’ Patricia Troncoso, una activista por los derechos del pueblo Mapuche. Hasta ayer el gobierno Chileno, encabezada por la Presidenta Michelle Bachelet, ha ignorado la protesta de la Sra. Troncoso, respondiendo con silencio a las protestas y demandas de Patricia Troncoso y el pueblo Mapuche.

Hoy, 29 de Enero 2008, el colectivo hip hop Rebel Diaz, con las organizaciones comunitarias La Pena del Bronx, y la Red de Solidaridad Mapuche Internacional nos convocamos en el consulado Chileno para expresar apoyo a nuestra lamngen Patricia Troncoso y los derechos ancestrales del pueblo Mapuche. Aun que el gobierno Chileno ha aceptado negociar con la Sra. Troncoso, es imperativo que el gobierno entre ha estos diálogos listo para resolver las demandas del pueblo Mapuche, que por tantos años han sido reprimidos y marginados por el gobierno Chileno y Argentino.

Como estudiantes, artistas, activistas, inmigrantes, y trabajadores, llegamos al consulado para entregar cartas y demandar que la Presidenta Michelle Bachelet y el gobierno Chileno cede a las siguientes demandas de nuestra lamngen Patricia Troncoso:

1- Que se lleve acabo la derogación de la ley anti-terrorista a los mapuches acusados de terrorismo y que no se intenten salidas mediáticas que solo buscan que se siga cumpliendo la condena de una forma distinta.
2- Que el Gobierno Chileno desmilitarice el Wallmapu y no continué perpetuando políticas genocidas contra el Pueblo Mapuche con brutalidad policíaca, asesinatos, y otras violaciones de derechos humanos.
3- Que el Gobierno Chileno se haga responsable de hacer justicia por los asesinatos de Alex Lemun y Matías Catrileo.
4- Que el gobierno chileno se haga cargo de la deuda histórica con el pueblo mapuche y se haga atención al mal llamado conflicto mapuche a partir de una política de negociación de nación a nación y no con la represión, asistensialismo y paternalismo hasta ahora llevados.

Declaración de joven Mapuche Danko Mariman, quien vino desde Boston para la protesta hoy:

“La resistencia mapuche no es terrorismo. El real terrorismo es generado por las políticas neoliberales adoptadas por el Gobierno Chileno quienes contaminan el agua, erosionan la tierra, ensucian el aire y asesinan a mapuches quienes luchan por sus justas reivindicaciones, favoreciendo a los colonos europeos, latifundistas y corporaciones.
Demandamos que se genere una real apertura al pluralismo para ejercer una real democracia tanto con los medios comunicativos, como con la educación, reconocimiento y participación de los pueblos originarios de las Américas en la política de los estados-naciones americanos.”

Declaración de Rodstarz del colectivo Hip Hop Rebel Diaz:

“Hoy hacemos un llamado para solidaridad con el pueblo Mapuche por parte de activistas en EE.UU y por todo el mundo. Las mismas políticas neoliberales que marginan y desplazan a nuestros hermanos y hermanas Mapuche en el sur también nos afectan como jovenes afro-americanos y latinos aquí en Nueva York. A jóvenes pandilleros aquí en EEUU se les aplica la ley anti-terrorista pero no se les ofrece rehabilitación ni oportunidades reales para surgir; familias pierden sus casas en el Sur del Bronx porque sigue subiendo el arriendo y el precio de vivir; la policía brutaliza y asesina a jóvenes de color con impunidad... Como representantes de la cultura Hip Hop, apoyamos la lucha Mapuche por ejercer sus derechos humanos; su derecho de vivir, perpetuar y proyectar como pueblo en el futuro.”

Nos juntamos en frente del consulado por nuestros herman@s Mapuches, por nuestro territorio y por nuestras vidas!

Red de solidaridad mapuche internacional
Colectivo Hip Hop Rebel Diaz
Movimiento La Pena del Bronx
Comité Permanente por Chile- Chicago
Colectivo Miguel Enriquez
Colectiveo Joaquin Murieta
Miristas Chilenos y Latino Americanos
Pueblo Afroamericano-Latino
Red de solidaridad internacional con el pueblo mapuche.

Nueva York, NY 29/01/08 12:36am

CONTACTO: Rodstarz 646.250.4405

Mapuche International Solidarity Network
mapucheinternationalsolidarity@gmail.com

2008-01-29T06:19:00.001-08:00

Rights activist ends 110-day hunger strike

http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_8105331

SANTIAGO, Chile — An indigenous-rights activist jailed for setting
fire
to a farm once owned by Mapuche Indians ended a 110-day hunger strike
Monday, government officials said.

Patricia Troncoso ended her fast after Chilean officials agreed to
transfer her to a rural prison and allow home leave on weekends,
benefits often granted for good behavior.

Troncoso, 37, has led the fight in Chile for indigenous land rights. In

2005, she was sentenced with four others to 10 years in prison for
setting fire to a farm in southern Chile. Two of her four cohorts
received the same concessions she did Monday.

Mapuche International Solidarity Network
mapucheinternationalsolidarity@gmail.com

2008-01-28T23:10:00.000-08:00

If you would like to send your word in support to the mapuche nation, you can do it by sending e-mails directly to the president here:

http://www.gobiernodechile.cl/contacto/contacto.asp

Then click where it says ESCRIBALE A LA PRESIDENTA

Mapuche International Solidarity Network
mapucheinternationalsolidarity@gmail.com

THE HUNGER STRIKE HAS BEEN DEPOSED

2008-01-28T15:17:00.000-08:00

THE HUNGER STRIKE HAS BEEN DEPOSED AS AGREEMENTS FROM BOTH PARTS CAME TOGETHER.

The Chilean government presented a new proposal which was accepted by Patricia Troncoso today January 28th.

Patricia is being moved urgently towards Temuko, place where she can get the proper attention she needs.

new in progress...
http://www.mapuexpress.net

Information in Spanish:

Gobierno le habría presentado a Patricia nueva propuesta en el día de Hoy la que habría finalmente aceptado, según anunció recientemente la Iglesia.

Patricia sería trasladada para su urgente recuperación a la ciudad de Temuco.

Noticia en desarrollo

http://www.mapuexpress.net

Mapuche International Solidarity Network
mapucheinternationalsolidarity@gmail.com

2008-01-28T13:12:00.001-08:00

Chile hunger strike puts focus on Indians' plight
Diario Austral de La Araucania

Patricia Troncoso, serving time for allegedly setting fire to a forest
plot, is moved to a hospital in Chillan. “Pinochet for us has not ended,”
she said, accusing police of persecution.

Jailed activist Patricia Troncoso has had no solid food for 100-plus days,
and is seeking release of Mapuche prisoners and return of ancestral lands.

By Patrick J. McDonnell,
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-mapuche28jan28,1,4322267.story

January 28, 2008
CHILLAN, CHILE -- The case of a jailed indigenous-rights activist who has
been on a hunger strike for more than 100 days has galvanized support for
restive Mapuche Indians seeking the release of prisoners and recovery of
ancestral lands in central Chile.

Mapuche activists and their allies have converged on this town in the
Andean foothills, where Patricia Troncoso is being held in a hospital.
Authorities intervened against the prisoner's will last week and provided
Troncoso with intravenous nutrition to prevent her from dying.

Her plight has drawn renewed attention to charges that Chile's much-lauded
economic growth has not lifted the Indian minority, which is largely
landless, disenfranchised and the victim of police repression. Supporters
have staged demonstrations in the capital, Santiago, about 230 miles
north, and other cities and have circulated petitions.

"Don't lose hope," Troncoso, 38, urged in a letter read on Thursday, the
107th day of her hunger strike.

Troncoso is calling for authorities to release her and imprisoned Mapuche
activists, whom she calls "political prisoners." She also wants the
withdrawal of a heavy police presence from traditional Mapuche zones in
Chile.

The Mapuche militants are incarcerated mostly for arson strikes against
land and trucks belonging to forestry and agribusiness interests. Mapuche
leaders say much of the territory was stolen and should be returned to
them. Troncoso has served about half of a 10-year sentence for setting
fire to a forestry plot -- a charge she denies.

Sympathizers have called on the center-left government of President
Michelle Bachelet, who was a political prisoner under the Pinochet
dictatorship, to help resolve the hunger-strike impasse. Deputy Interior
Minister Felipe Harboe expressed sympathy for the Mapuches, while
condemning violence.

"I defend the Mapuche community," Harboe told reporters in Santiago. "But
there is a minority that perpetrates acts of violence and stigmatizes the
entire community."

The dispute has raised tensions in the region and resulted in periodic
confrontations.

On Jan. 3, police shot and killed a Mapuche activist, Matias Catrileo, 22,
an agronomy student, as he and others allegedly trespassed on a farming
estate.

Three days later, authorities said, shots were fired at a car carrying a
hydroelectric executive in Santiago. No one was injured, but officials
suspect the shooting may be linked to Mapuche objections to hydroelectric
projects.

Human rights groups have assailed the prosecution of Troncoso and others
under anti-terrorism laws dating to the former dictatorship of Augusto
Pinochet.

"What these activists have done may represent crimes under the penal code,
but certainly could not be characterized as acts of terrorism," said Jose
Miguel Vivanco, who heads the Americas division of Human Rights Watch.

In her statement last week, Troncoso declared, "Pinochet for us has not
ended," and cited police checkpoints and other alleged acts of repression.
"We keep experiencing him in the country roads, in the house searches, in
the persecution, jailing, torture and death."

The case has resonated here and elsewhere in Latin America, where
indigenous issues have taken on a higher profile, especially since the
election in 2005 of Evo Morales as Bolivia's first Indian president.

But Chile has a much smaller indigenous population than neighbors Bolivia
and Peru.

Mapuche Indians in Chile number 600,000, about 4% of the country's
population of more than 15 million, according to census figures.

Studies have shown many Mapuches feel discriminated against in a nation
long dominated by lighter-skinned Chileans of mixed-race and European
origins.

Troncoso, known as La Chepa, is not a Mapuche and was raised in a
middle-class family in Santiago. She gravitated to the Indian cause while
studying theology at university, said her father, Roberto Troncoso.

"La Chepa is Mapuche in her heart," said Juan Pichun, a Mapuche leader who
is among the many holding vigil outside her hospital.

Supporters have set up tents at the hospital gates and strung up cardboard
signs denouncing Chilean officials as "murderers." Sympathizers include
many students, left-wing activists and environmental advocates who cite a
legacy of ecological ruin on former Mapuche lands.

Last week , doctors acted to prevent Troncoso from developing potentially
fatal kidney damage, said Dr. Gaston Rodriguez, the police physician who
is overseeing her care. Her vital signs have improved since she began
receiving an intravenous mixture of vitamins and other nutrients, he said.

Troncoso had to be restrained with straps, Rodriguez said. The restraining
procedure resulted in bruises on parts of her body, her friends said.

"Her body is full of marks," said Valentina Peralta, a friend who visited
Troncoso in the hospital. She described the prisoner as "physically
depleted" but lucid, tranquil and determined to continue to refuse solid
foods.

Troncoso has lost more than 50 pounds as her only intake has been liquids
such as water, juice and mate tea, sometimes with sugar. Doctors say
Troncoso has survived in part because when she launched her fast Oct. 10,
she was in robust physical shape, weighing about 185 pounds.

"My daughter has promised me she will live," said Roberto Troncoso.

"I want her to come home alive, not in a coffin."

patrick.mcdonnell

@latimes.com

Special correspondent Claudia Lagos in Santiago and Andrés D'Alessandro of
The Times' Buenos Aires Bureau contributed to this report.

Mapuche International Solidarity Network
mapucheinternationalsolidarity@gmail.com

ACTION

2008-01-27T11:39:00.000-08:00

Tuesday Jan. 29th, 2008 10am

For 500 years , The Mapuche have resisted the colonial oppressors. Whether, Spain or Argentina or Chile the history of this proud nation has been one of resistance and struggle.

Under Pinochet, the Chilean government enacted terrorism laws against some forms of dissent and protest.

Much like our incarcerated freedom fighters here in the United States, the Mapuche have fallen victim to these laws, laws similar to the current "Anti -Terror" initiatives being practiced and implemented here.

Political Prisoner Patricia Troncoso has been on a hunger strike for 105 days in protest of her incarceration and of these "anti-terror" laws.

REMEMBER MATIAS CATRILEO!!!
YOUNG MAPUCHE ACTIVIST MURDERED BY THE CHILEAN POLICE...
SUPPORT PATRICIA TRONCOSO AND FREE THE MAPUCHE POLITICAL PRISONERS!!!
JOIN US!
SUPPORT THE MAPUCHE STRUGGLE IN CHILE!!!

Tuesday, January 29th, 2007...10am

CHILEAN CONSULATE: PROTEST @ 10AM TUESDAY , JANUARY 29TH

866 UNITED NATIONS PLAZA, SUITE 601, NEW YORK, NY 10017.
Primera Avenida (1° Avenue) esquina East 48th. Street
(Hay una sucursal del Citibank en el primer piso del edificio).

We will assemble and have a press conference addressing the Chilean government and the treatment of the Mapuche Nation.
We will deliver letters in support of the Mapuche Nation and in critique of the Bachelet government.

NO!! TO THE CHARGES OF TERRORISM ON MAPUCHE FREEDOM FIGHTERS!!

FREEDOM FOR THE MAPUCHE POLITICAL PRISONERS!!

Mapuche International Solidarity Network
mapucheinternationalsolidarity@gmail.com

Mapuche: Bachelet Urged to Heed Hunger Striker

2008-01-26T19:29:00.000-08:00

Chile’s National Assembly for Human Rights led a protest on the situation of fasting Mapuche prisoner Patricia Troncoso.

Below is an article written by Alex Cacciari published by The Santiago Times:

Chile’s National Assembly for Human Rights led a protest Tuesday [22-01-2008] morning outside La Moneda Presidential Palace demanding that President Michelle Bachelet address the situation of fasting Mapuche prisoner Patricia Troncoso. The demonstration came on the heels of an open letter presented to Bachelet on Monday [21-07-2008] by Amnesty International, also demanding attention to Troncoso's case.

Prison guards decided Monday [21-07-2008] to sedate and administer intravenous feeding to Troncoso without her consent, a move that human rights groups decried as a violation of her rights. Troncoso has been fasting more than 100 days to protest a stiff arson conviction she received in 2002 under Pinochet-era terrorism laws. She has repeatedly denied intravenous feeding and stated that if she must die, she will..... Read more...
http://www.unpo.org/article.php?id=7504

Mapuche International Solidarity Network
mapucheinternationalsolidarity@gmail.com

On the brink of death for the Mapuche

2008-01-26T08:42:00.000-08:00

by Alejandro Pintamalli
26-01-2008

The hunger strike by Chilean human rights activist Patricia Troncoso is attracting more and more attention. For over 100 days she has been refusing food in solidarity with the plight of Chile's Mapuche Indians. Ms Troncoso is currently in a hospital in the southern city of Chillán, where she awaits a response to her demands from Chilean President Michelle Bachelet.

Through her campaign, Patricia Troncoso hopes to secure the release of a dozen Mapuche Indians who have been behind bars since 2001. They were convicted of burning down 100 hectares of forest but have always maintained their innocence.
They and Ms Troncoso were convicted under an anti-terrorism law brought in under the Pinochet regime. This legislation allows exceptional procedures and generally results in sentences which are three times longer than those normally imposed.

FightPatricia Troncoso is not Mapuche herself but, as a human rights activist, she supports their fight to recover the land that was taken from them. Through her hunger strike, Ms Troncoso is also protesting at the inhumane conditions in which the Mapuche prisoners are being held in a jail in Araucanía, 400 kilometres south of the capital Santiago.
Patricia Troncoso's health is failing dramatically. Her doctors say she is suffering from cardiac arrhythmia and that the damage to her system could soon be irreversible. Since she began her hunger strike on 10 October last year, she has lost 25 kilos.

"Ms Troncoso is extremely weak", explains Sergio Laurenti of Amnesty International in Chile. "We have heard that she is now being force-fed through a tube. This is being done against her will and she is being restrained in her bed. It is a cruel, inhumane treatment that effectively amounts to torture."

Initially all of the Mapuche Indians in the prison took part in the hunger strike, but poor health forced the others to give up.

SupportIn the past few days, messages of support for Patricia Troncoso's protest and the demands of the Mapuche have been pouring in from inside and outside Chile. Human rights organisations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have already called for the prisoners' cases to be reviewed. AAccording to Sergio Laurenti of Amnesty International, the application of this law to the Mapuche is completely unjustified. He believes the only solution is to turn to international legal authorities, since Chilean law does not allow for any appeal against the sentence.

International contextRafael Reilaf, chairman of Folil, an organisation in the Netherlands that represents the interests of the Mapuche, shares this belief that the only way forward is to raise the issue in an international context, because Chile's president has not responded to the Mapuche's demands. Reilaf: "Within Chile, we cannot achieve much: Bachelet and the Chilean government will not listen to the Mapuche. There is no real prospect of the anti-terrorism law being changed. So we will have to think of something else. We will have to tackle this issue outside of Chile."

After 77 days on hunger strike, Patricia Troncoso sent another emotional message to the outside world. "They want us to die in silence. Chile has a long and traumatic history of human rights violations. I cannot believe that a democratically elected government such as this one is using the same methods against a defenceless people."

* RNW translation (dd)
http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/080126-mapuches-chile-mc

Mapuche International Solidarity Network
mapucheinternationalsolidarity@gmail.com