Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved. Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.
Area: Asia, southern
Reference: Asia, southern; Agriculture
Title: CHILE: GOVERNMENT SEEKS TO SAVE ARAUCAN INDIANS FROM EVICTION
santiago, feb 28 (ips/gustavo gonzalez) -- faced with an eviction
order from the chilean supreme court, 22 araucan indian families
living in the quinquen valley are hoping for an agreement between
the government and the land owners which will allow them to stay in
ancestral lands.
officials are trying to beat the mar. 2 deadline set by the
supreme court for the eviction of the araucans from the 135,000
hectare cordillera valley located some 640 kms south of santiago.
the araucan indians say they have occupied the lands, rich in
forests filled with araucaria pine trees called 'pehuen' in the
native tongue, since time immemorial. the indians, who are called
'pehuenches', got their name from the trees which are also their
source of income.
but the 'galletue' firm, which got its name from a river that
flows in the area, claims it owns the valley and brags of land
titles to prove it.
galletue, which obtained the eviction order from the supreme
court, has refused the government's offer to buy the lands for five
million dollars.
the bi-monthly magazine 'pagina abierta' has accused galletue
owners gonzalo lledo, miguel lamoliatte and mauricio mettas of
trying to profit from the negotiations.
the government of president patricio aylwin wants to turn the
valley, whose name means 'place of refuge' in the araucan language,
into a national park and reserve.
in the early 1970's, the socialist government of salvador allende
set up an agrarian reform programme which expropriated the quinquen
lands from galletue and recognised the araucans' right to the land.
but the augusto pinochet dictatorship gave back the lands to the
firm in 1974, and later authorised it to exploit the arauca forests.
last year, the aylwin government declared the araucaria tree a
national monument and once more prohibited its exploitation all over
chile.
as a result of this decision, the state gave galluete six million
dollars in compensation and paid the firm another five million to
conserve the forests as a national patrimony.
but galletue is asking 10 million dollars for the lands, a sum
considered ''excessive'' by the government and ''immoral'' by the
native groups, politicians and ecologists. (more/ips)
chile: government (2)
experts say a police eviction of the araucans would elicit
criticisms locally and from abroad, particularly since several
countries are getting ready to celebrate the fifth centennial of the
arrival of the spanish conquerors in the american continent.
indigenous groups in latin america have criticised the
preparations, saying the coming of columbus to the americas brought
about the genocide of their people and the stealing of their lands
and wealth.
local indigenous groups waiting for the government's decision
next week describe the case as the ''robbing of their ancestral
lands which began five hundred years ago''.
should galletue and the government fail to reach an agreement
by monday, aylwin, backed by the 10 parties of the ruling coalition
for democracy, will have to urge congress to pass the bill
expropriating quinquen, experts say.
jorge arrate, acting president for the chilean socialist party
which is the second strongest group in the coalition, has accused
the government of acting with timidity on the case.
fernando quilaleo, president of the ad-mapu indigenous
organisation, has called on the government to solve the case this
year for the sake of its image abroad.
''but quinquen is only one of chile's problems. between the
chilean state and the araucan indians there are a thousand more
quinquens,'' quilaleo said. (end/ips/trd/hr/ggr/cir)