Attacks in Temuco: Mapuches or Anarchists?

A crowd of Mapuches, four holding a large banner

January 03 2014

by Paula Bonnet

THE POLICE IS INVESTIGATING THREE VIOLENT ATTACKS THAT HAPPENED ON DECEMBER, 31 IN TEMUCO. THE INCIDENTS WERE FIRST LINKED TO THE MAPUCHES BUT NOW ANARCHIST GROUPS ARE BEING INVESTIGATED.

TEMUCO — The Prosecutor’s Office has designated a special investigator to look further into some of the latest attacks in Temuco. The violent incidents were first linked to the Mapuche conflict in the Araucania region but now the government suspects some anarchist groups are involved in the attacks.

General Jorge Rojas has stated to newspaper La Tercera that his forces are specifically looking into the last three attacks, where no one was harmed and the police has not made any arrest at the moment. These happened in urban areas, whereas the Mapuches usually target locations on the countryside. On December, 31 an arson attacked reach Temuco and later pamphlets with anarchist propaganda were found close to the house that was attacked. According to Temuco Governor Andrés Molina, they referred to an anarchist killed in December during a bank robbery in Santiago. The police also found two bombs that failed to explode in the area. Rojas stated: “An attack is never normal but when three happen it implies some type of planification”.

Mapuches have been blamed for these types of incidents for years but after paying attention to some of the details of these last attacks, the police is investigating other political organizations. Chilean Interior Minister Andrés Chadwick said that the police is working “to find and punish those responsible” for the “terrorist acts” in the region, which is inhabited by 3000 Mapuche communities. One of the main goals of the Mapuches is to recover their ancestral lands, most of which are now owned by both foreign and national large farmers.

Source: I Love Chile

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