Occupations in the southern macrozone exceed 130,000 hectares, including forestry and agricultural lands

One hundred thousand hectares of land dedicated to forest plantations, according to figures from the Forestry Institute (Infor), and at least another 30,000 hectares of fields in the southern macrozone, according to agricultural associations, are occupied and outside productive circuits.

Of the one hundred thousand hectares of forests usurped in the southern macrozone, 80% of the cases are concentrated between Biobío and La Araucanía, says the manager of the Association of Forestry Contractors, René Muñoz. "Although the occupations in the southern zone have a different dimension compared to those occurring in the central and northern zones, we would also like them to be confronted," he emphasizes.

He states that companies in the sector have filed complaints and requests for intervention in the occupied areas, "but the State has not been able to recover those lands."

Muñoz says that "it is the political will of the State authorities that must change to allow productive sectors to work."

Regarding the complaints about the existence of organized crime within the San Antonio occupation, Muñoz points out that there is also a presence of gangs with the purpose of committing crimes in the southern macrozone.

"When these groups, which are dedicated to various illicit activities, find favorable conditions, they associate," he states and adds that "that is why, in the southern macrozone, it is possible to find terrorism, drug trafficking, presence of war weaponry, timber theft, vehicle receiving, and land usurpation." For the same reason, he continues, "beyond the state of exception, a major State intervention is needed to clean this up, because as the conditions for investing and working are not in place, there are places where poverty continues to increase."

Halt to new usurpations

The Usurpation Law, enacted in November 2023, has halted new illegal occupations but has not achieved the eviction of the older ones, maintains the president of the Malleco Farmers Association, Sebastián Naveillán.

The cases in La Araucanía are around 20,000 hectares, he details.

José Miguel Stegmeier, president of the Biobío Agricultural Society (Socabío) and vice president of the National Agricultural Society (SNA), confirms that at least 30,000 hectares of fields remain usurped in the southern macrozone. "It is a high figure, which impacts the affected municipalities, but mainly causes great harm to their owners, who cannot produce on them nor live on them. But they continue paying property taxes," he stresses.

Regarding Biobío, the leader details that the occupations are concentrated in foothill and mountain areas: "At least, we are talking about some six properties, in the Alto Biobío sector."

He adds that "the underlying problem is that this situation calls the Rule of Law into question and shows the State's inability to carry out evictions and ensure those lands are not taken over again."

Cases without judicial rulings

Asked about the reasons explaining the more than 130,000 hectares usurped in the south, Felipe Harboe, former Undersecretary of the Interior and researcher at the Center for Security and Organized Crime Studies at U. San Sebastián, warns that different scenarios are presented. "In some cases, there is no court ruling ordering the eviction; in others, there is no adequate contingent to carry out the procedure, and there are also situations that could lead to confrontations and casualties, both civilian and uniformed, which cannot be tolerated in a democracy," he says.

Regarding the effects of the Usurpation Law in the southern macrozone, he dismisses that the regulation exhibits legal gaps or inconsistencies for carrying out evictions. "What we have is a lack of police operational capacity. When there is a usurpation and a complaint, the law mandates the eviction. But what is the real capacity for information to know the risks, to plan and project scenarios, and to execute the orders? Ultimately, we have to ask ourselves if our system is in a condition to materialize what the laws establish as a right," emphasizes Harboe.

Source:El Mercurio