Police and Armed Forces "Limited in Their Actions," Unions Warn After Attacks in La Araucanía

Four properties and 15 pieces of machinery used in various operations were destroyed in four arson attacks recorded over the weekend in La Araucanía.

Unlike previous episodes, this time there were three days of attacks against three different unions: on Friday, farmers; on Saturday, construction workers; and on Sunday, forestry workers.

All were claimed by the radical organization Weichan Auka Mapu (WAM), through banners and pamphlets demanding the release of Mapuche community members detained in various prisons across the country for similar incidents. Additionally, they mentioned Alex Lemun, Camilo Catrillanca, and Yordan Llempi, who were killed by Carabineros officers (the first two) and Navy personnel in La Araucanía and Biobío, respectively.

Yesterday, the Minister of Public Security, Luis Cordero, stated in Temuco that, despite such claims, the attacks against agricultural companies (in Vilcún) and a forestry company in Cunco are associated "with the same organization," different from the one that carried out Saturday's attack in Carahue.

Cordero added that starting tomorrow (today), "the military presence will be increased, among other things, for the electoral process" to enhance interventions and checkpoints in the area.

The attacks occurred just before the seventh anniversary of Catrillanca's death, who was shot during a police operation inside the Temucuicui community, west of Ercilla, on November 14, 2018.

"Reduced to patrolling and controlling roads"

The affected unions expressed concern. According to the president of the Malleco Farmers' Association, Sebastián Naveillán, it is a date "when we have typically experienced attacks in Malleco province." Therefore, he added, "we demand that the State reinforce security plans and fixed checkpoints in each rural area. We need to control rural security to be able to produce and generate food."

Lorenzo Dubois, president of the Chilean Chamber of Construction in La Araucanía, made "an urgent call to authorities to adopt all necessary measures to investigate, detain, and punish those responsible, dismantling the violent groups that threaten coexistence, work, and social peace in our country."

In a statement, the Association of Forestry Contractors argued that "terrorist violence remains fully entrenched in La Araucanía, despite the figures, statements, and justifications from the Ministry of Security and the Government." In their view, "the police and Armed Forces deployed in the territory remain limited in their actions, reduced to patrolling and controlling roads without the capacity or legal tools to prevent attacks and intervene actively."

In this regard, the union called to "advance the Rules of Force Law, the Intelligence Law, and the Critical Infrastructure Law, bills that are stalled in Congress."

Over the weekend, following a demonstration in Temuco, unknown individuals left pamphlets alluding to the disappearance, one year ago, of the Mapuche woman Julia Chuñil.

Source: El Mercurio