On Friday 9 July in Carahue, a 29-year-old former anthropology student who had joined the Mapuche struggle through CAM (Coordinadora Arauco Malleco), Pablo Marchant, was murdered by a carabiniere with a bullet to the head during an attack on vehicles belonging to the Forestal Mininco forestry company. Far from seeking justice from the murderous state, various radical Mapuche groups from different regions (Biobío, La Araucanía and Los Ríos) immediately set out to keep the ideas of ‘Toño’ alive by attacking companies that exploit water or the forest. In less than a week, the authorities had already counted 44 road blockades, 22 gun attacks on carabinieri patrols or security guards, and 11 arson attacks that had destroyed 39 vehicles (trucks and forestry construction equipment).
Today, 1 August, a little less than a month later, all those who had hoped to reduce these vengeful attacks to an inevitable temporary flare-up of rage and anger for a few days were given a cold shower by the traditional official assessment of the Ministry of the Interior. Not only did the Ministry of the Interior report a 94% increase in “violent acts” in the Mapuche zone (Macrozona Sur) in the first half of 2021, but it also counted more than 150 “attacks” following the murder of Pablo Marchant.
Here is the continuation of our chronological overview of the sabotage carried out against companies in the region, which has destroyed an additional 50 pieces of forestry equipment in the last two weeks…
Río Negro, 18 July: three of the seven forestry machines set on fire
Los Lagos region
On the night of 18 July at around 3am in the municipality of Río Negro (Osorno region), a double attack took place which left 7 construction machines and 1 pick-up in ashes. The first attack took place on the El Mirador estate belonging to the Arauco forestry company, and the second on the Popóen estate belonging to the Huempeleo forestry company (1). Continue reading “Chile: Attacks in Mapuche areas continue to grow”