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Workers Injured in Attacks in Curanilahue While Constitutional Convention Holds Session in the Area

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Four workers were injured, one with severe eye damage, as a result of an attack by 25 hooded individuals who arrived in three pickup trucks and opened fire. The incident occurred on the morning of Wednesday, November 24, in Curanilahue, in the Biobío region—the same district where one of the Constitutional Convention committees was holding a session. Prior to this, the assailants burned four trucks, one of which was delivering water to rural areas in the sector and Trongol. They left behind a banner from the Mapuche Lafkenche Resistance, demanding the withdrawal of the military and forestry companies from the territories, as well as the release of so-called Mapuche political prisoners.

Regarding this, René Muñoz Klock, manager of the Association of Forestry Contractors AG, stated, "Another attack has occurred against contractors and forestry workers—a situation we have been enduring for eight years now. Today, the Constitutional Convention is also holding a session in the province of Arauco, and we urge the president of this convention to see what is happening, to analyze it, to take responsibility, and to reject violence."

The injured individuals are Sebastián Aravena Cariz, 27, who sustained pellet wounds to his face, specifically on the left side, with no life-threatening risk but in serious condition; Francisco Javier Inostroza Sandoval, 31, who suffered pellet wounds to his face with possible loss of an eye, also serious but not life-threatening; and Abel Reyes Ulloa, 50, who has pellet wounds to his neck and chest, non-life-threatening, employed by Áridos Arauco. Meanwhile, a fourth injured person, Omar Peña Maldonado, recounted that one of the trucks coming in the opposite direction, after loading his machine, warned him, "Get out of here, you can’t go up ahead," adding that the road was blocked. When he tried to follow the advice and turn around, Peña said a pickup truck appeared behind him with at least six hooded individuals shooting at his vehicle. They demanded he stop the truck, but the worker said it was impossible, so his machine kept moving. At that moment, the assailants shot at him. "I had to raise my hand, and they shot me in the arm," he said.

In light of these grave events, René Muñoz addressed the reality the Constitutional Convention must understand. "The Convention must say something about what is happening in the province of Arauco. We have not seen the board denounce the violence in the terms required today. The contractors and forestry workers in this region can no longer endure this scourge of working under the threat of terrorist attacks."

Indeed, on Wednesday afternoon, the Board of the Constitutional Convention issued a statement regarding the events. The group stated that the situation does not leave them indifferent—not only as members of the Convention but as a country—and expressed solidarity, saying their thoughts are with the victims and their families. Likewise, they affirmed that they "long to build a society where security is guaranteed for all, protecting the right to coexist in spaces of well-being."

Elisa Loncón, president of the Convention, called for the attacks to be investigated effectively and swiftly "to prevent further pain and uncertainty. We deserve and demand to know the origin of this and all forms of violence."

These events occurred on the same day that Congress was deciding on another extension to the State of Constitutional Exception, which was approved and will remain in effect until December 11.