Mapuche fighters destroy two dozen logging trucks in Chile indigenous dispute

Reuters, August 28, 2017

SANTIAGO (Reuters) – A group of armed men claiming to represent the nation’s indigenous Mapuche people hijacked and burned 29 logging trucks in southern Chile on Monday morning as a years-long conflict with forestry companies heated up.

The government convened an emergency meeting less than two weeks after a similar hijacking in which 18 trucks were burned, and several high-ranking officials denounced the attack later in the day.

Mapuche Political Prisoners on Indefinite Hunger Strike: “We risk our lives to guarantee our freedom.”

Women’s Coordinating Committee for a Free Wallampu, June 7, 2017

Mapuche Political Prisoners, in so-called southern Chile, prosecuted in relation to Luchsinger Mackay case in the prison of Temuco communicate the following:

On Monday, May 29^th, 2017, we have begun a hunger strike as a last recourse of resistance within political prison to demand and pressure authorities for due process in our cases.

Chile: Mapuche Political Prisoners on Hunger Strike in Angol Prison

by Women’s Coordinating Committee for a Free Wallmapu [Toronto], April 27, 2015

*Note: The hunger strike began on March 23rd,  2015 and has been ongoing since (now at 36+days), and the prisoners have already lost more than 10% of their body weight.

April 16^th, 2015

Public communiqué by the Mapuche Political Prisoners in Angol Prison

We state the following to public national and international opinion:

Kiñe: The Mapuche Political Prisoners on hunger strike in Angol prison reaffirm our decision to maintain our hunger strike to the final consequences.

Three Mapuche youth convicted in death of farmer

The Women’s Coordinating Committee For a Free Wallmapu [Toronto], December 5, 2013

Family members react to conviction of Mapuche youth in court, Dec 5, 2013.

The three young Mapuche Political Prisoners belonging to the Lof Chekenko Community were convicted this Thursday in the town of Angol for the murder of farmer Hector Gallardo. The injustice and racism of the Chilean courts can be seen once again within the framework of the current Presidential elections, in which the entire political class washes their hands of any responsibility.

Chile indigenous groups mark Columbus Day with protests

Mapuche activists clash with police, demanding return of traditional lands; decry government mistreatment

Al Jazeera, October 13, 2013

Protesters clashed with police in Chile’s capital Saturday during an anti-Columbus Day march organized by Indigenous groups, with activists calling for the return of ancestral lands and the right to self-determination on the 521-year anniversary of the arrival of Christopher Columbus to the Americas.