Young Mapuche Sends Message from Chilean Prison
Santiago, Chile, June 15 — The young Mapuche, Erick Montoya, arrested last week in a police raid, sent a message from jail defending the struggle of indigenous people to recover their lands.
"The only thing I can tell my peñi (brothers) about the struggle is that if we fail to fight for our lands, we will never get what we want," Montoya said in his message.
Montoya, 20, denounced the special Carabinero forces (police) for storming Mapuche communities.
He also denied being involved in the incident for which local authorities are holding him responsible.
"I've just heard that I was accused of attempting to kill carabineros. They blame us for that and it is not true; they shot at themselves and then they create a scene and blame the peñi," he said in a letter released at the Mapuexpress website.
He said his message was addressed mainly to the Temucuicui community, in La Araucania region, which have waged a long struggle for the respect of their ancient rights.
"Even if they lock us up, we will continue struggling until we recover our land; it's the same thing I tell my mother: this struggle is long and I will continue fighting until the end," he said.
Erick Montoya was wounded in his neck, his body and one of his legs during a Chilean police raid against the Wente Winkul Mapu community, in the town of Ercilla, Malleco province, in La Araucania region.
Source: Prensa Latina