Mapuche conflict

The Mapuche conflict (Spanish: conflicto mapuche) is a political and armed conflict that involves indigenous Mapuche communities (historical exonym: Araucanians), located in Araucanía and nearby regions of Chile and Argentina. The first attack, marking the beginning of the period of violence in the Southern Macrozone of Chile, occurred in December 1997 with the burning of three trucks. Since then, violence has progressively increased and expanded to the neighboring regions of Biobío and Los Lagos. The conflict itself is related to the land ownership disputes between Argentina and Chile since the 19th century as well as corporations such as big forestry companies and their contractors. In the past decade of the conflict, Chilean police and some non-indigenous landowners have been confronted by indigenist militant Mapuche organizations and local Mapuche communities in the context of the conflict. Some scholars argue the conflict is an indigenous self-determination conflict; others like Francisco Huenchumilla see it as the expression of a wider political conflict that affects all of Chile given the existence of other indigenous groups. The area where the conflict has been most violent is known as "Zona Roja" (lit. Red Zone) and lies in the provinces of Arauco and Malleco. In May 2022, the Chamber of Deputies of Chile declared the Coordinadora Arauco-Malleco, and other three armed organizations as "illegal terrorist organizations". Mapuche indigenist activists demand greater autonomy, recognition of rights, and the return of what they consider "historical ancestral lands", which some families have documents prove their ownership of specific lands with the "Títulos de Merced" and others apply it as a broader concept, not having family ties to the land. The Mapuche conflict intensified following the return of democracy in the 1990s, with indigenist activists seeking to rectify the loss of what they call "ancestral territory" during the Occupation of the...