Gabriel Boric changes his initial approach with the Mapuches and returns to a state of emergency in southern Chile

SANTIAGO, Chile.- The Chilean president, Gabriel Boric, faces a new controversy after the decision to decree a “limited” state of exception to curb violence in Araucanía, which will allow the presence of the Armed Forces on routes and roads, but without intervening in private spaces. The decision was challenged by the oppositionconsidering it “insufficient”, but also caused fissures within their own coalition.

The decree was signed by the head of state and sent to the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic to initiate the so-called decision-making process, with which the supervisory body will endorse the legality of the action of the Executive that will govern for 15 days and could be extended for the same period.

The document establishes a series of measures such as authorization for meetings, access control, or protection for various public utility service centers by the uniformed officers deployed in the southern macrozone of the country and whose powers are similar to those of an “unlimited” state of exception. Admiral Jorge Parga Balaresque, in the provinces of Biobío and Arauco; and General Edward Slater Escanilla in La Araucanía, were designated as the chiefs of National Defense.

“We have decided to make use of all the tools of the State to provide security to our citizens”announced the Minister of the Interior of Chile, Izkia Sichesin a message to the press where he also announced the details of the “good living” plan that seeks to mitigate the conflict in the area through the reactivation of the purchase of properties to restore land, the implementation of territorial parliaments and investment in public works .

“It is evident that in recent times we have had an increase in acts of violence on the roads and we have witnessed cowardly attacks. We have also seen widespread road closures that put free transit at risk and cut off supply chains.”, deepened the official.

The measure, applied as a constitutional state of emergency, was promoted by the Chilean government and was accelerated due to the lack of agreement in the ruling bloc. In fact, there was harsh criticism from the most left-aligned sectors after the provision was confirmed.

“We do not think it is time for the Armed Forces to interfere in this conflict, which is a political, social conflict with the state, which involves some type of violent activity, because it is a role that would have an adverse reaction,” said the President of the Communist Party, Guillermo Tellier.

failed strategy

Precisely, one of the aspects that Boric has been questioned the most has to do with the strong opposition he had to a provision of these characteristics before taking office as head of state. In fact, one of his first measures was to raise the state of emergency ordered by the administration of Sebastián Piñera in order to prioritize the dialogue, but after just two months he had to go back to square one.

“One thing is what is declared and the other is what actually needs to be done to implement the legitimate use of force in a democratic state. And there the bloc that has supported President Boric has various complexities and reluctance to use force, and that has to do with political and ideological issues, but also with the background of the social outbreak and with the human rights violations carried out by the security forces against the citizens”, said Patricio Saavedra, a researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences of the State University of O’Higgins (UOH), who said that the government’s measures to address the Mapuche problem “have not had the expected effect”.

Another aspect had to do with the frustrated visit of Minister Siches to the community of Temucuicui, in Ercilla, to resume dialogue with the Mapuche communities and that was frustrated after being met with bullets, which also meant a serious setback for La Moneda’s strategy. In addition, and in the midst of the increase in acts of violence in the region of La Araucanía, the coordinator of Indigenous Affairs of the Ministry of the Interior, Salvador Millaleo, resigned due to a difference with Siches. “Building plurinationality requires greater conviction,” said the academic after the state of emergency was announced.

For Claudio Barrientos, an academic at the Diego Portales University School of History, since the return to democracy in Chile in 1990, all governments “have been naive.”

“In the last 20 years, it was believed that, faced with the radicalization of indigenous movements, police violence, repression and the militarization of the region were the answer to demobilize radicalized indigenous groups. The problem in La Araucanía is more complex than just a group of radicalized Mapuche organizations, since there are many local interests that the Chilean governments have not been able to analyze or detect in all their magnitude and complexity.”, pointed out the also director of the Observatory of Recent History of Chile and Latin America.

“This government thought that showing a willingness to dialogue was enough, but that is not the case, it soon realized that not all Mapuches act or react in the same way to state policies, that there is a Mapuche policy that is diverse and varied, within which there are groups that are willing to dialogue and others that are not. But in this they were no less naive than previous governments. What I do see is that there is now a desire to understand the conflicts in Araucanía and that this new plan responds to that interest, and to a strategy that from every point of view is more innovative than those we have seen before.”, said Barrientos, who assured that the scenario “cannot become more complex” for the Boric government.

“This plan contemplates measures at different levels that understand security beyond the militarization of the region. That may bring some indigenous groups and organizations closer to dialogue, although not all of them,” he stated.