Chilean Armed Forces in Talcahuano, Biobío region of Chile. Photo: Oscar Guerra/Agencia Uno
Current scenarios in the south of Chile are not much different from those during the time of Sebastián Piñera, as the supposedly progressive President Gabriel Boric is applying the same repressive measures of his predecessor, whose mandate is considered as the worst of post-Pinochet Chile and the trigger that led to structural changes in the Chilean State.
Recently, the government of Chile, headed by President Boric, decreed a state of emergency in two southern provinces “to guarantee security” in the Mapuche region. Until then, Boric had rejected the militarization that Piñera had been forced to reverse.
Last year, Boric campaigned against the militarization of the Araucanía region in the extreme south of Chile, for which he won the votes of those people who were hopeful that the centuries-old problem between the Mapuche indigenous people and the Chilean government would finally be resolved.
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“We saw this coming,” said Mijael Carbone Queipul, spokesperson for the Temucuicui community in Ercilla, in repudiation of the new militarization in the territory. “We also understand that the government has not learned anything in these months of preparation, of installation. We know that they have no real interest in solving the underlying problem. As long as this interest is not there, these situations will continue to occur in Mapuche territory.”
The disappointment of Chileans with the current “progressive” president is already starting to reflect in opinion polls, as well as in the protests that are happening in Chile again, with the same demands that were commonly made during the previous right-wing governments.
Featured image: Chilean Armed Forces in Talcahuano, Biobío region of Chile. Photo: Oscar Guerra/Agencia Uno
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/EF/SC
