Development: On 11 June a local court in Temuco, the capital of Chile's southern Araucanía Region where the indigenous Mapuche lay claim to ancestral lands, sentenced two Mapuche activists, Luis Tralcal Quidel and José Tralcal, to life imprisonment, while a third, Peralino Huinca, received a five-year prison sentence.
Significance: The sentences are in relation to a high-profile case dating back to 2013 when an elderly couple, Werner Luchsinger and Vivianne McKay, were killed in an arson attack on their agricultural estate, located in Mapuche ancestral lands. The conviction of the three men under Chile’s anti-terrorist legislation, which dates back to the dictatorship led by General Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990), is likely to reignite criticism of the use of the legislation, which human rights groups have long claimed is draconian, and used to criminalise indigenous activists.
- The three men were convicted on 5 May 2018 in a ruling which saw other Mapuches acquitted, including Fracisca Linconao, a Machi (a traditional Mapuche spiritual authority). While a Temuco court had acquitted all eleven Mapuches in October 2017, an appeals court overturned this decision in late December 2017, ordering the criminal court to reopen the case. Previously, one person had already been convicted for the crime – Celestino Córdova, a Mapuche who in February 2014 received an 18-year prison sentence.
- The latest sentences have been hailed by President Sebastián Piñera and Interior Minister Andrés Chadwick. Piñera described it as a “powerful step against terrorism and impunity in the Araucanía” while Chadwick described them as “just sentences”.
- Since taking office for a second term in March, President Piñera has antagonised the Mapuche community through moves such as his signing of a bill on 23 March to modify the anti-terrorism law. The bill, which has been slammed by the Mapuche community, contains 11 proposed changes which include the use of undercover agents, drones, and the wiretapping of suspected terrorists’ phone lines, among other things.
- The sentences have already been met with protests from Mapuche organisations such as Hogar We Liwén and Weche Ke Kawiñ, which yesterday staged demonstrations in support of the three Mapuches in Valdivia city, the capital of the neighbouring Los Ríos Region, where the Mapuche also lay claimed to ancestral lands,
Looking Ahead: The sentences are likely to prove a rallying point for further unrest.
