Nov 12, 2014

Mapuche: Families Occupy Ancestral Lands in Peaceful Protest


An estimated 30 Mapuche families have occupied 2000 hectares of replanted pine forest in Paicavi estate as a peaceful demonstration to reclaim Mapuche ancestral lands and improve the lives of the indigenous people.  The organizers of the occupation have made clear that they are committed to keeping this demonstration peaceful, and have expressed their willingness to open a dialogue between the Chilean government and the forestry company in order to reach a solution.

Below is a published by El Ciudadano, which has been translated into English:

 

Around thirty families of the Pangue section started a peaceful occupation of the Paicavi estate, a piece of forest of around 2000 hectares replanted with pines, property of Forestal Cambius.

Families from the five Mapuche communities of Pangue carry on since last Saturday [8 November 2014] a peaceful occupation of the Paicavi estate, more or less 2000 hectares that are property of Forestal Cambius, located 35km south-west of the city of Los Alamos, on the border with the territory of the city of Cañete.

Alexis Añiñir, spokesperson and president of the Ancestral Territory El Pangal Retrieval (Recuperación Ancestral Territorio el Pangal), told Arauco TV that the occupation comes as a retrieval of ancestral land south of the Pangue river, with the purpose of improving the communities’ life.

“Although our área is quite large, today we struggle to survive just out of our agriculture, our ancestors obtained land thanks to the agricultural reform, but this happened 4 generations ago. Nowadays we almost don’t have room for development and we see the only option is to take action with this type of acts and we do it thinking about our children”, pointed out the werken.

Furthermore, Añiñir added that the plan is to stick to a peaceful occupation: “we do not wish to harm anyone, as much as we do not wish someone to harm us, we are open to dialogue with the CONADI (Corporación Nacional de Desarrollo Indígena – National Cooperation for Indigenous Development), with the government and with the company. The idea is to be able to have a reunión and find a better solution.

The regional Director of Conadi, Carlos Carvajal, constantly informed about the situation, has not yet engaged in talks with the Mapuche.

 

Photo Credit: maxually @flickr