May 14, 1997
Today, more than 500 Mapuche indigenous people have taken to the streets
in Santiago, Chile on a march to protest continuing efforts by the Chilean
government to deny them fundamental rights guaranteed under Chilean law.
Motivating this historic protest are recent events involving not only
actions by the Chilean government, but also involving the Indigenous Fund,
a multilateral fund which is administered by the Inter-American
Development Bank and other agencies, supposedly with democratic indigenous
representation.
Brief background:
In late April, Chilean President Frei fired the Director of the National
Commission on Indigenous Development (CONADI), Mauricio Huenchulaf.
Huenchulaf had taken a strong position in support of the rights of
Mapuches fighting the Ralco Dam on the Biobio River, which would submerge
two Pehuenche villages, and other projects which would directly impact
Chilean indigenous territories. He based his position upon guarantees of
indigenous rights in Chile's Indigenous Peoples Law.
Mapuche leaders occupied the headquarters of CONADI and issued a statement
calling Huenchulaf's sacking "the intervention and brutal destruction of
an institution created to contribute to the protection and promotion of
our rights, and which now has been converted into an obstacle to them,
favoring instead the megaprojects of an authoritarian modernization which
is leaving our country without a soul and without roots, which looks
greedily at our few remaining ancestral territories".
Reacting to growing dissatisfaction by Chilean indigenous people, Chile's
President Frei cancelled the conference of the Indigenous Peoples' Fund,
an initiative to fund indigenous peoples' projects, in which Latin
American governments, the Inter-American Development Bank, and other
multilateral funding agencies participate, supposedly in partnership with
indigenous peoples. The conference, which had been scheduled for Santiago,
was moved to La Paz when Frei said that he could not guarantee the
conference's security.
Mapuche leaders termed the moving of the conference "unjustified" and said
it demonstrates that "(the fund) continues to be coordinated and directed
by the governments without considering our opinions".
What you can do:
Write letters expressing solidarity with the Mapuche marchers, condemning
recent actions by the Chilean government to steamroll the rights of
Chilean indigenous peoples. Denounce the unjustified moving of the
Indigenous Fund conference as a clear effort to deny Chilean indigenous
people a voice.
Please send letters to:
Sr. Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle,
Presidente de la Republica
Palacio de la Moneda, Santiago
Chile
Fax: (+56 2)690 4000 / 699 1657 / 698 4656 / 699 2233 /
Mr. Enrique Iglesias
President, Inter-American Development Bank
1300 New York Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20577
Fax: (+1)202 623 3614
Please also send a copy to the Mapuche organizational headquarters in
Temuco, Chile:
tel/fax: (+56 45) 233 886
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Sample Letter:
Dear President Frei:
We are writing to express our solidarity with the march of Mapuche
indigenous people and to manifest our indignation at recent actions by
the Chilean government to deny Chilean indigenous peoples their rights
as guaranteed under Chile's Indigenous law. The firing of Mauricio
Huenchulaf as head of CONADI, and actions taken to promote Ralco Dam,
the Truf Truf bypass and other roads affecting indigenous territories,
destruction of Chile's forests in indigenous territories, and mining
projects on indigenous land demonstrate your government's aggressive
disregard of indigenous rights.
Furthermore, we denounce the unjustified moving of the conference of
the Indigenous Fund from Santiago as a clear effort on your part to
silence indigenous opposition to your policies at an important
international forum.
We urge you to reconsider your blatant disrespect for the rights of
Chile's indigenous peoples.
Sincerely,