Chile cracks down on indigenous activists.

• Author: Tockman, Jason
• Position: Plight of Forests

Four indigenous activists and a supporter were recently sentenced to ten years in prison on charges of terrorism in relation to the Mapuches' struggle to reclaim lands seized by the Chilean state and forestry companies, notably Arauco and CMPC. They will join a growing list of Mapuche prisoners in Chilean jails, including community leaders--"Lonkos" in the native language--while a dozen more await trial. Some have had to go into hiding to avoid facing a judicial system that they feel "criminalizes the indigenous cause and has a racist bias against the Mapuche."

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The five defendants were charged with "terrorist arson" under Pichochet-era antiterrorist laws for allegedly setting fire to a CMPC pine plantation near the town of Ercilla. Once invoked, the laws allow the government to double jail sentences, conceal the identity of witnesses, and withhold evidence from the defense. But punishment does not yield when the prison sentence is complete; the "terrorist" is then restricted from participating in trade unions, business ownership, public office, journalism and teaching.

"They say that we are 'terrorists' for defending our rights," said Pascual Pichun, 52, from a prison in Traiguen, where he and fellow Lonko Aniceto Norin, 47, are being held for five years. "The plantations have greatly impacted the community. We have lost medicinal herbs, native forests and water. The fumigation of the tree plantations has polluted the water and contaminated the lands and animals."

An indigenous people numbering more than one million, the Mapuche were never conquered by Spanish invaders, nor militarily by the modern Chilean state. However, decades of government and corporate pressures have taken Mapuche lands and eroded their cultural bonds, leading to the dispersal of the people and their placement in reservations called "reductions."

Chile, like all of South America, has a history of bloodshed and repression of native peoples. Unlike other South American countries, however, Chile has not made strides to rectify these conditions and has refused to ratify Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization, which attempts to protect indigenous rights and land, and requires states to consult indigenous peoples on any resource extraction that affects them.

Mapuche communities currently face severe hardship as a result of the extensive establishment of tree plantations. They have lost much of their land base, as biologically diverse...