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Both were claimed by the Mapuche Malleco Resistance. In both cases, they demanded the return of inmates who were transferred from Angol for kidnapping prison guards.

"The individuals were transferred because they kidnapped a group of prison guards, who are public servants doing their jobs. They are in prison because they have sentences and are under preventive detention for extremely serious crimes that have nothing to do with political conduct," stated Interior Minister Carolina Tohá yesterday, precisely in the area.

 

But today, the governor of La Araucanía, Luciano Rivas, disagreed with those words. "Several factors are at play, but without a doubt, the fact that there is an ideological cause here, mixed with other things, is real. This is a political attack, it's a message. Look, I don’t know if this will be directly linked to Minister Tohá’s visit."

 

"But the signing of the Peace and Understanding Agreement, which took place in Santiago—where I was present and which I, as regional governor, support in both form and idea—on that same day, we had two attacks. When the President of the Republic came to inaugurate the train to La Araucanía, two attacks occurred that night," he said on Tele13 Radio.

 

That is why, in his view, "clearly, this is not common crime when attacks are carried out to highlight the presence of national-level authorities in the region. So, this is a political act—there is an organized group trying to confront the government in different ways."

 

Rivas insisted, "I believe we cannot turn a blind eye and pretend these are common crimes, more or less serious. There is an intent here, primarily to strike at democracy, as I’ve said, which is why I classify these acts as terrorist. On the other hand, there’s a mix with other issues—drug trafficking, as we’ve mentioned, timber theft, etc."

 

"So, these things get mixed in, but there’s an ideological purpose behind it. Every time the government tries to take a firm stance on some measure, these groups make a political statement. And that means we have groups that are politically organized." He also lamented, "Our region is tired of waking up every day to attacks, of adding new victims every day to this enormous list of victims we have in our area."