By Diana Porras on November 25, 2018
A public statement by Native leaders calling for a new meeting December 1 in Temucuicui, is warning, “We call on all territories to remain mobilized.”
After holding a meeting within the community of Temucuicui, chiefs (lonkos) and Mapuche leaders assured that “as long as the government persists in its repressive policy and they keep going with the Araucanía Plan, which only seeks to favor entrepreneurs, the conditions do not exist to engage in a dialogue.
In addition, they asked the Executive to withdraw and dissolve the so-called “Jungle Command” of Carabineros, the Chilean national police force, who have jurisdiction over the entire national territory of Chile. And they called for an end to the militarization of the southern territory of Wallmapu which is historically Mapuche land.
This meeting was convened in the midst of investigations into the death of the Mapuche community member Camilo Catrillanca at the hands of carabineros on November 14 in the commune of Ercilla.
Marcelo Catrillanca, father of the deceased community member, read the agreements reached among the nearly 100 attendees who joined the meeting this Saturday. “The government must understand the political character of the conflict derived from the invasion of Wallmapu by the State,” he said.
They recalled that this invasion signifies, “the genocide of our population and the material dispossession (land and cattle), which led to our cultural and linguistic loss”, affirmed Marcelo Catrillanca.
The leaders demanded the resignation of those directly responsible for the death of Catrillanca. The leaders said the meeting December 1 in Temucuicui. “ will talk about the situation of our nation and we will make known the objectives of our political strategy and the search for justice for Camilo (Catrillanca)” the statement concluded.
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano, translation North America bureau