Chile: Anger over Mapuche death by police

Indigenous groups in Chile have protested against last week’s killing of an activist by a police officer. According to The Santiago Times:

“We, as Mapuches, are not going to just calm down. We’re got a lot of rage to let out. We’re very angry. The state, cowardly and at point blank, killed our brother, who was unarmed,” Raul Cariñe of an organization called Meli Wixan Pau (Of the Four Points of the Earth) told members of the international press Friday afternoon.

Little is known over the exact circumstances of the death of Matias Catrileo though the Associated Press noted that it occurred during clashes between activists and police over a piece of farmland.

Some Mapuche activists have fought to recover land that they claim is theirs, and this has led to disagreements with Chile’s government and Italian clothing firm Benetton. A pair of legislators has even called for the Organization of American States to intervene. Unfortunately, the situation may be getting worse after police are investigating a radical Mapuche group for its role in the attack of a Chilean business executive.

Sources (English)- The Santiago Times, Associated Press, UNPO.org, The Latin Americanist, IPS

Sources (Spanish)- La Nacion

Image- mapuexpress.net