“Very serious” arson attacks in southern Chile

Chilean Interior Minister Carolina Tohá on Tuesday (25) described as “very serious and grave” the recent arson attacks that occurred in the early hours of Tuesday local time in the south of the country.

“It is a series of very serious attacks, in which many vehicles were set on fire, apparently coordinated, because it is not a series of attacks that usually co-occur, as was the case yesterday,” the minister said upon her arrival at the National Congress.

The attacks occurred during the night in the regions of La Araucanía and Los Ríos, the epicenter of the conflict between the Mapuche people, the Chilean state, and forestry companies, where the Mapuche demand an end to the exploitation of these areas, considered ancestral lands.

The clashes have reached such proportions that the authorities declared a state of emergency over the entire area almost a year ago.

The first of these recent acts of vandalism destroyed 18 machines belonging to a company in Panguipulli.

Around three in the morning, “a group of armed men entered the place in a pick-up truck and set fire to the machines,” the local press reported.

The second attack targeted the property of a former right-wing council member.

The farmhouse, shed, and other machinery burned, including six trucks and a backhoe loader.

There was also an attempted arson attack on a chapel by a large group of hooded men, but it was extinguished in time thanks to the help of neighbors.

The minister said Tuesday that regional authorities are already evaluating background information at the crime scenes and the relevant investigations, which will allow them to “find those behind the attacks.”

Tohá promised to bring the group behind the attacks to justice.

Some Mapuche National Liberation Group graffiti found at the sites indicates their involvement in these violent actions.

“In 2022 and so far in 2023, investigations have produced many results in identifying culprits and breaking up gangs, and the group behind the attacks will be dealt with in the same way to find them and bring them to justice,” Tohá said.

The Mapuche people – Chile’s largest indigenous group – claim control over the lands they have inhabited for centuries, which were forcibly occupied by the Chilean state in the 19th century as part of the so-called “Pacification of Araucania.”

Over the years, these lands have fallen into the hands of forestry companies owned by powerful business groups that do not recognize the claims of the indigenous people and often face arson attacks on land and machinery.

This conflict has already cost the lives of numerous Mapuche community members and police officers, and even Mapuche prisoners have gone on hunger strikes.

The declaration of a state of emergency in the region allows the military to supplement the actions of the carabineros to achieve greater surveillance of the main roads and surrounding streets, as well as more resources to ensure public order.