On Mar. 2, the day of the eviction deadline, Chilean President
Patricio Aylwin reached an agreement to buy the land from the
company for approximately six million dollars. The plan now is to
establish a national reserve, thus guaranteeing the permanence of
the Pehuenche tribe.
The Pehuenches are part of the Mapuche tribe, whose name
derives from "Pehuen " or Araucaria, the name of the tree that
constitutes their main source of survival.
"The Pehuenches gave us the most beautiful lecture of
coexisting with nature," said ecology leaders, "in the shared
experience of fighting for the conservation of their land, we
learned values that are indispensable to human life".
The National Committee for the Defense of Flora and Fauna
(CODEFF), the oldest environmental group in the country, praised
the new agreement, but also agreed with Indian and political
organizations that the amount paid was "excessive".
The president of the National Agricultural Society (SNA),
Benjamin Prado, criticized the agreement, saying that it set a
"dangerous precedent" for other land conflicts involving Mapuche
communities in the south of the country.
CODEFF scoffed at Prado's accusation and pointed out that when
he was minister of agriculture during the dictatorship of General
Augusto Pinochet, he should have found a solution to the problem.
"The national and international public opinion was witness of
how a wood company sought the exploitation of the araucaria tree,
which would cause cultural, social and ecological damage", said
the group.
Four years ago, the Pehuenche community of Quinquen asked
CODEFF for help in solving their problem with Galletue. The
company obtained title to the land in 1974 from the Pinochet
dictatorship, a reversal from the protected status during the
government of Salvador Allende.