Chile’s Piñera declares state of emergency in the region seeing conflicts with Mapuches

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Chilean President, Sebastián Piñera, ordered this Tuesday the militarization of four zones in the regions of Biobío and La Araucanía, given the “serious alteration of public order” in the region arising from conflict with the Mapuches after the latest incidents in the south of the country.

According to Chilean media, the decision was taken after coordinating the details with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the commanders of the Security and Law Enforcement Forces in the area. The measure, which limits freedom of assembly and movement, will last 15 days.

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“We wish to communicate today to all our compatriots that we have decided to decree a State of Constitutional Emergency Exception, due to a serious alteration of public order, in the provinces of BioBío and Arauco in the Biobío region, and the provinces of Malleco and Cautín in the Araucanía region”, announced the President in a brief message to the country on the Day of the Encounter of Two Worlds, where the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492 is commemorated amid controversies with the native peoples of Latin America.

Article 42 of the Constitution specifies that “the state of emergency, in case of serious alteration of public order or serious damage to the security of the Nation, shall be declared by the President of the Republic, determining the areas affected by such circumstances”.

“These violent acts have also destroyed and burned houses, churches, facilities, and goods destined to industrial, agricultural, commercial, and tourist activities and public infrastructure. These attacks have also prevented the execution of judicial orders by the police, which have been resisted through the use of violence and the use of large-caliber firearms, including weapons of war,” said Piñera, adding that this also weakens the rule of law.

And although he assured that the Ministry of the Interior filed all the necessary complaints before the Judicial branch, he stressed that “the serious situation described above requires the State to make use of the means and institutional capacities and the mechanisms contemplated in the Constitution and the laws to protect the population, safeguard Public Order and the Rule of Law and ensure the full enjoyment of the constitutionally recognized rights in the provinces mentioned above”.

According to the President, this measure is taken “to better confront, with better instruments and tools, terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime that has taken root in those territories, but in no case is it directed against a people or group of citizens.”

The Mapuche territorial claim and the request for recognition from the Chilean State gained strength in Chile’s protests following the social outburst of October 18, 2019.

The Constituent Convention – which this Tuesday marks 100 days since it began to draft a new Constitution – is chaired by Mapuche academic Elisa Loncon, and 17 of its 155 members are representatives of 10 native peoples. Seven constituents represent the Mapuche people, who hope to resolve indigenous demands in the new Magna Carta.

The lack of a solution to Mapuche claims has escalated violence in the last decade in the southern regions of La Araucanía, Biobío, and Los Ríos, with arson attacks on private sector properties and trucks.

The presence of drug trafficking and self-defense organizations also came to light, and police operations were allegedly mounted to frame indigenous people.

As Piñera explained, according to this decree, the Armed Forces will provide logistical, technological, and communications support. “They will also be able to provide surveillance, patrolling and transportation support, to police procedures that are developed in the areas declared in a state of Emergency,” he said, and further specified that “according to the decree the Armed Forces must collaborate and not replace the forces of order and security, and may not participate autonomously and directly in operations of a police nature.”

If the President wants to extend the state of emergency, he will require the agreement of Congress.