Mapuche conflict
The Mapuche conflict is a political and armed conflict that involves indigenous Mapuche communities, located in Araucanía and nearby regions of Chile and Argentina.
The first attack, marking the beginning of the period of violence in the Southern Macrozone of Chile, occurred in December 1997 with the burning of three trucks. Since then, violence has progressively increased and expanded to the neighboring regions of Biobío and Los Lagos.
The conflict itself is related to the land ownership disputes between Argentina and Chile since the 19th Century as well as corporations such as big forestry companies and their contractors. In the past decade of the conflict, Chilean police and some non-indigenous landowners have been confronted by indigenist militant Mapuche organizations and local Mapuche communities in the context of the conflict. Some scholars argue the conflict is an indigenous self-determination conflict; others like Francisco Huenchumilla see it as the expression of a wider political conflict that affects all of Chile given the existence of other indigenous groups.
The area where the conflict has been most violent is known as "Zona Roja" and lies in the provinces of Arauco and Malleco. In May 2022, the Chamber of Deputies of Chile declared the Coordinadora Arauco-Malleco, and other three armed organizations as "illegal terrorist organizations".
Mapuche indigenist activists demand greater autonomy, recognition of rights, and the return of what they consider "historical ancestral lands", which some families have documents prove their ownership of specific lands with the "Títulos de Merced" and others apply it as a broader concept, not having family ties to the land. The Mapuche conflict intensified following the return of democracy in the 1990s, with indigenist activists seeking to rectify the loss of what they call "ancestral territory" during the Occupation of the Araucanía and the Conquest of the Desert. The Mapuche Indigenists lack a central organization. Individuals and communities carry out their struggle independently by different means. Some groups, such as the Coordinadora Arauco-Malleco, have used violent tactics since 1998, while other groups have preferred non-violent tactics and institutional negotiations. Violent activists have been scrutinized for their finances and international links, with some being accused of large-scale theft of wood, either by performing the theft themselves or taking possession of stolen wood. Others have been linked to drug trafficking. Personnel of Coordinadora Arauco-Malleco have been in Venezuela meeting high-ranking officials of the Nicolás Maduro government.
The handling of the conflict by Chilean authorities has been the subject of controversy and political debate. The label of "terrorism" by authorities has been controversial as well as the killing of unarmed Mapuches by police followed by failed cover-ups. Another point of contest is the "militarization of Araucanía", yet the use of military-grade long guns against police vehicles has been cited as explaining the need for armoured vehicles. There are recurrent claims of Mapuche "political prisoners" for people related to armed groups.
The conflict has received the attention of international human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, which have criticized the Chilean government's treatment of the Mapuche. As of 2009, a dozen activists have died as a result of the repression. Mapuche police and Mapuche contractors have also been killed by violent activists. Recently, the has compiled more than 2,600 events related to this conflict.
The official 2002 Chilean census found 609,000 Chileans identifying as Mapuches. The same survey determined that 35 percent of the nation's Mapuches think the biggest issue for the government to resolve relates to their ancestral properties. The official 2012 Chilean census found the number of Mapuches in Chile to be 1,508,722 and the 2017 census a total of 1,745,147, representing around 10% of the population.
Historical background
Arauco War and coexistence with Hispanic Chile (1541–1810)
The conflict has a historical background in the Arauco War, which varied in intensity and had several peace periods because of agreements between the Hispanic Monarchy and Mapuche tribes. During this time, the Mapuche people, better known as the Reche at this time, were divided into three sub-groups living in and around the region of what is now central and south-central Chile between the Aconcagua River and the Chiloé. The Pikunche lived in the northern part of this region and were defeated by the Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century. As a result, the Pikunche lost all ownership of their lands and were forcibly assimilated into Spanish society. The Huilliche lived in the South of the region between the Valdivia River and the Chiloé Archipelago. They survived the conflict with the Spanish due to the relatively light presence of the Spanish in this particular part of the region and due to the fact that they posed no threat to Spanish outposts in the area. Lastly, the central Reche, who inhabited the region between the Maule and Tolten Rivers, regularly entered into violent conflict with the Spanish and successfully held off the colonial power.The central Reche eventually experienced a large societal transformation due to the introduction of the horse to their society which resulted in economic changes in trade, political restructuring, and a relocation of the people. This transformation took place between the second half of the 16th century and the end of the 18th century and led to the emergence of a new cultural identity for the group originating from the central Reche into the Mapuche.
Eventually after a sustained period of war between the Mapuche and Spanish lasting for about a century, the two sides came together and created a peace agreement called the Treaty of Quilin in 1641. The treaty and various agreements that followed legally recognized the Mapuche as distinct and autonomous people from the Spanish, being part of the territories of the Catholic Monarchy, as well as established a border between Spanish and indigenous lands at the Bio Bio River. This agreement effectively put an end to the large-scale conflict between the Mapuche and the Spanish, although small conflicts continued between the two sides until decolonization in the early 19th century. The Mapuche were the only indigenous group under Spanish control from the 16th-19th century to gain full independence. Although the two cultures were independent of one another, they continued to trade and share agricultural practices.
Mapuches and the Republic of Chile (1810–1973)
During the Independence war, some Mapuche tribes fought in favor of the Hispanic Monarchy, and some others for the Republic.After Chile successfully achieved independence from the Spanish Empire, the peace between the Mapuche and those inhabiting the rest of Chile effectively evaporated. Although the Spanish Empire still legally recognized the Mapuche as authonomous following decolonization, no such agreement existed with the newly independent Chilean government. The conflict rooted in land ownership issues.
The Chilean government did eventually recognize the Mapuche as distinct people through the formation of the Indigenous Settlement Commission in 1813 which was created to help move the Mapuche reservations. Additionally, The Decree of March 4, 1819 by President Bernardo O'Higgins recognized the ability of Mapuche peoples to enter into legal contracts, the law of July 10, 1823 recognized Mapuche rights to property, and the Treaty of Tapihue in 1825 officially recognized the Mapuche as a state within Chile. While these laws were being passed by the Chilean government, the Chilean population continued to slowly encroach and acquire Mapuche land, often through deceptive and unfair means. In 1866 the Chilean government passed the Indigenous Reservations Law which led to mass rebellion by the Mapuche people in 1870 and 1880.
After the Frenchman, Orélie-Antoine de Tounens, tried to create the Kingdom of Araucanía and Patagonia in the region, the Chilean government started the "Pacification of Araucania" movement between 1862 and 1883. The movement was essentially an occupation of Araucania by the Chilean Army in the late 19th century. After 1881 the land was divided into plots and distributed mostly among private owners. The Mapuche were confined to almost 3,000 atomized reservations named titulos de merced. The actions by the Chilean government were essentially an effort by the government to incorporate the territories which were previously authonomous de facto. In 1962, the Chilean government passed the Law of Agrarian Reform which made all lands taken from the Mapuche before 1946 dedicated for public use. Encroachment efforts appeared to subside when Salvadore Allende was elected president as his government was responsible for restoring significant amounts of Mapuche land. In particular, Law 17.729 helped to restore almost 850,000 acres of Mapuche land and gave the Mapuche people stronger land ownership rights. Many Mapuche were actively involved in the Chilean land reform. More than 150,000 hectares of land were transferred to the communities.
Chilean dictatorship (1973–1990)
Most of the land that was regained by the Mapuche under the Allende Presidency was later taken back during the counter-agrarian reform process implemented during the military dictatorship. Specifically, in 1973 the successful military coup of General Augusto Pinochet established a military dictatorship that effectively reversed many of the policies of the Allende government. Specifically, the Pinochet government did not recognize the Mapuche as a distinct group within Chile, but an integral part of it. Instead, the government only recognized its people as Chilean citizens. Additionally, all of the land regained by the Mapuche during the Allende government was returned to previous owners or opened up to development. Unlike the previous Allende Government, Pinochet focused on giving individual land property and not collective. The dictatorship transferred land to thousands of indigenous families. Between 1978 and 1990, 69.984 individual land titles were given. At that time the Mapuche leaders did not consider their new "private property" an offense to their ancestors. In February 1989, General Augusto Pinochet had a meeting with the groups belonging to the Mapuche "Regional Councils" who gave him the title of "Ulmen Futa Lonco", which means "Great Authority" in Mapuche language.The diploma that was given said: "The General Board of Loncos and Chiefs of Nueva Imperial and the 30 communes of the IX Region of Araucanía, agreed to name H.E., the President of the Republic Captain General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, Ulmen Futa Lonco".
From the 1980s onward, large swathes of southern Chile became integrated into the country's export economy, forming what has been described as an enclave economy. The central component of this is the forestry sector, with several plantations in plots that were originally part of the land reform and others in plots claimed by communities. In 1988 a referendum was held in which the "No" option won, and in 1989 Patricio Aylwin was elected President of Chile, assuming office in 1990.