We are publishing this interview with Héctor Llaitul, long-time spokesperson for the Coordinadora Arauco-Malleco (CAM), in a context marked by intensified state repression, the criminalization of territorial struggles, and the rise of the far right in Chile, as elsewhere in the world.
The Mapuche resistance, rooted in the Wallmapu, is neither a matter of identity folklore nor a simple local conflict. It is part of a long-standing struggle against colonization, the nation-state, and the extractive plundering of territories by forestry, mining, and energy companies. More broadly, it reflects the persistence of forms of community organization that have never been absorbed into the modern state and continue to exist despite repeated attempts at normalization, integration, or suppression.
Through land reclamation, territorial control, and community self-organization, communities in resistance are raising concrete questions about political autonomy, the defense of life, and the break with the capitalist model—not as an abstract horizon, but as a set of social, decision-making, and territorial practices already at work. The interview also highlights, with lucidity and concrete examples, how the ideological color of a state does not fundamentally change the logic of domination at work, and how forms of institutional “progress” can sometimes prove just as devastating as the policies they claim to overcome.
As such, this struggle deeply echoes the principles of social ecology and communalism: rejection of the logic of domination—both state and market—the centrality of local communities, and the inseparable link between social emancipation, environmental preservation, the search for a sustainable balance with nature, and, where still possible, the regeneration of ecosystems from the territories.
By sharing these words, we express our solidarity with the Mapuche nation and communities, but also recognize in their resistance a living experience—admittedly localized, conflictual, and not mechanically transposable—of what a policy of liberation rooted in the territory, based on community autonomy and the continuity of collective practices, against the colonial, capitalist, and authoritarian order, can mean today.
Mapuche resistance: “There will be struggle” — Interview with Héctor LLaitul
❞𝙃𝙖𝙗𝙧𝙖́ 𝙡𝙪𝙘𝙝𝙖❞: 𝙡𝙖 𝘾𝘼𝙈 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙚 𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙙𝙚 𝙡𝙖 𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙝𝙖 𝙮 𝙚𝙡 𝙨𝙖𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙤 𝙙𝙚 𝙡 𝙒𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙢𝙖𝙥𝙪.
In a context marked by judicial convictions against Mapuche spokespersons, the intensification of repressive policies in Wallmapu, and the arrival of a new far-right government, Werkén Noticias obtained a written interview with the historic spokesperson of the Coordinadora Arauco-Malleco (CAM).
The interview was conducted in the form of a questionnaire and collected during a visit, based on concerns raised by our readers. It addresses, without euphemism, the political persecution of the Mapuche autonomist movement, the role of the Chilean state and forestry companies, and the scenario that is emerging for communities in resistance.
A word that disturbs those in power, but which emerges from the historical experience of struggle and territorial control in Wallmapu.
𝙍𝙀𝙋𝙍𝙊𝘿𝙐𝘾𝙄𝙈𝙊𝙎 𝙀𝙉𝙏𝙍𝙀𝙑𝙄𝙎𝙏𝘼 𝘾𝙊 𝙈𝙋𝙇𝙀𝙏𝘼 𝘼 𝙃𝙀𝘾𝙏𝙊𝙍 𝙇𝙇𝘼𝙄𝙏𝙐𝙇 𝘾𝘼𝙍 𝙍𝙄𝙇𝙇𝘼𝙉𝘾𝘼 𝙑𝙊𝘾𝙀𝙍𝙊 𝙋𝙊𝙇𝙄́𝙏𝙄𝘾𝙊 𝘿 𝙀 𝙇𝘼 𝘾𝙊𝙊𝙍𝘿𝙄𝙉𝘼𝘿𝙊𝙍𝘼 𝘼𝙍𝘼𝙐𝘾𝙊 -𝙈𝘼𝙇𝙇𝙀𝘾𝙊
⚫️1- The conviction of political spokesperson Rafael Pichún and other members of the community follows complaints filed under the government of Gabriel Boric, with the active participation of forestry companies. How does the CAM assess these convictions and the political responsibility of the current government in these decisions?
The conviction of our werken camche Rafael Pichún is indeed a judgment clearly motivated by political persecution, both on the part of the Chilean state and the dominant power that opposes the Mapuche cause, particularly the forestry companies.
That is why we maintain that this is a political conviction of a spokesperson and an expression that represents both the autonomous and revolutionary struggle led by the CAM and its concrete political proposal, which is publicly referenced through those of us who dare to make open statements. This is persecution directed against those who, like us, represent and make their voices heard, while assuming the political and cultural role of werken of the communities and of a Mapuche organization in resistance.
Similarly, beyond questioning the judicial process that led to the conviction of our peñi, as everything indicates that there has been yet another violation of the right to a fair trial by using a protected witness as standard evidence in order to punish, which is contrary to a series of statements by international bodies, notably the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, this conviction clearly shows that we are dealing with a type of governance—the Boric administration—that not only files complaints but also implements an entire operational strategy to obtain convictions.
This is a state administration, a scaffolding of institutional power that allows for the prosecution and conviction of the most prominent activists of the Mapuche cause.
We express our solidarity with Rafel Pichún and all the weichafe, pu peñi who have been unjustly convicted and who join the long list of PPMs.
⚫️2- From the CAM’s point of view, what role have forestry companies played as plaintiffs and persecutors in these cases, and how does this relate to the security policy pursued by the Boric government in Wallmapu?
Within the CAM, we maintain that it is very clear that the actions of the current Boric administration (Frente Amplio with the Communist Party included) are in line with previous governments, which have clearly defined their desire to maintain the neoliberal model. In this context, the socio-political, cultural, and ideological conditions have been created to intensify the persecution of the Mapuche autonomist movement. And it is the forestry sector that has always played a fundamental role in the confrontation with the historical territorial claim of the Mapuche people. It is these extractive companies that play a role not only in disputes, criminal prosecutions, or anti-Mapuche discourse in general, but also in the exercise of hegemonic power in all its expressions.
This includes managing the press, manipulating the public agenda, spreading propaganda in political campaigns, and staging events against the Mapuche autonomy movement, mainly against the CAM, which have spread to all forms of resistance, especially those most consistent with the autonomy territorial struggle.
Added to this is the role of the forestry companies and the historical oligarchy that currently dominate our territories, which have pressured the state to reinstate public security policies and states of emergency, all with the aim of maintaining more specialized repression and reintroducing the doctrine of national security that defines the Mapuche people as the internal enemy.
This explains why security policies aim to protect the interests of capitalist investments in Wallmapu, protected by increasingly repressive institutions, rather than the legitimate and ancestral claims of our people.
Today, this is an increasingly disproportionate action to defend the interests of those who have most harmed our historic Wallmapu and who, with the current extractivist policies of forestry companies, hydroelectric plants, mines, real estate projects, and financial speculation, continue to plunder our ancestral territory.
In short, the role of forestry companies has been fundamental, as they are the ones who own vast tracts of land that have been usurped from our people, hence their interest in imprisoning and repressing those who fight against their economic model.
⚫️3 – With the arrival of José Antonio Kast’s government, how does the CAM perceive the political scenario that is opening up for communities in resistance and their relationship with the Chilean state?
From the CAM’s point of view, it is clear that a neo-fascist offensive is looming, as we have already mentioned on several occasions, especially since the socio-political conditions created by the current government have paved the way for this offensive by extreme right-wing forces in Chile.
We must also take into account the fact that entrepreneurs, many of whom are descendants of the colonists who usurped ancestral territories and enriched themselves at the expense of our people, have also created social and cultural conditions based on a deeply capitalist free market economy that currently has no limits when it comes to plundering and devastating our ancestral territories. These conditions have allowed for the creation of spaces that safeguard the interests of big capital, and with that, the development of fierce and cruel industrialization and extractivism that continue to prey on nature (desertification, fires, drought).
However, we cannot ignore the fact that in this context, “progressivism” has proven to be functional and complicit with the system of domination, because for a long time now, its leaders have lost their ties to the communist and/or humanist principles they claim to defend, and have devoted themselves solely to managing quotas of power in order to enrich themselves and become part of political corporations subordinate to big capitalists.
Today, we must ask ourselves the following question: why has the right been able to count on the support of progressivism and the creeping left to consolidate an extreme right-wing government?
It is certain and undeniable that the alternation of power between “progressivism” and the right is not the solution for establishing social justice, and even less so for responding to the demands of the Mapuche cause in terms of territory and autonomy, as the two are two sides of the same coin.
Under these conditions, the far right that will take the reins of the state in March will only continue and manage what has already been put in place, not only structurally, but also supra-structurally and ideologically.
In very concrete areas related to criminalization: at the criminal, punitive, and political persecution levels, and in the official discourse demonizing the Mapuche cause, which ultimately leads to the implementation of security policies—official discourse—that run counter to our people’s historical demands for territory and autonomy.
There will be a struggle, because the Chilean far right carries within it the DNA of the historical plundering of Wallmapu.
⚫️4 – Does the CAM consider that this new government will continue the repressive line of previous administrations, or does it see substantial differences in the way the territorial conflict is approached?
In our opinion, as we have mentioned, the new far-right government will continue along the same lines, not only because of the historical orientation of the Chilean state, which is colonial and racist, but also because of the adoption of policies that have opposed the Mapuche cause in recent times, reestablishing through blood and fire the neoliberal model and the industrialization of ancestral territories, particularly with regard to the criminal activity of logging companies.
Therefore, no radical change is to be expected in the actions of the new government. What must now be openly denounced and made very clear is that Boric’s government, beyond its good management of a neoliberal program, will go down in history as the government that modernized the repressive apparatus of the state to persecute social struggles in general, and that of the Mapuche people in particular, as a result of the reinstatement of the national security doctrine.
We must note that Boric has pledged allegiance to the transnational capitalist system dependent on US imperialism. This is reflected in concrete actions such as the ongoing militarization of Wallmapu, new repressive legislation (anti-occupation law, Nain Retamal law, etc.), the material and human resources used to besiege communities, and the modification and/or enactment of other regulations that, of course, contravene respect for human rights—such as due process for the persecution of the autonomist movement, set-ups and intelligence operations, as well as the impunity of state agents and the cruel and racist treatment of more than 100 Mapuche political prisoners.
This is a figure never before reached by any previous government, with long and unjustified sentences, mainly against young Mapuches. These alarming figures set a high bar in terms of the repression suffered by our people over the last four years, a bar that must be watched carefully in terms of what may happen with the new far-right government, in case this situation worsens, as this would exacerbate the contradictions with the state and our struggle for liberation.
In short, for us, the Boric administration has been the worst of all, not only because it has devoted itself to perfecting the economic model brutally imposed by the Pinochet dictatorship, but also because it has also devoted itself to perfecting the repressive apparatus of the state as a whole, establishing a truly oppressive institutionality that will only serve our historical enemies, and which is reflected in the continued persecution and repression of the Mapuche people in movement and resistance.
⚫️5 – It has been announced that former prosecutor Francisco Ljubetic will take up the post of presidential delegate in the Araucanía region. Given his history of persecution in cases related to the Mapuche movement, what is the CAM’s political interpretation of this appointment?
As CAM, we are not surprised by this appointment from a far-right government. On the contrary, it reflects very well the structure and the way in which the political persecution of the Mapuche movement has developed, with certain state agents distinguishing themselves in their role as repressors, mainly police officers and prosecutors. Indeed, the appointment of a former prosecutor illustrates the political, and not just institutional, role played by these public persecutors, and also testifies to the pressure and political orientation of corporations, further demonstrating the hidden hand behind these appointments.
The same is true when determining which prosecutors and judges should be involved in cases that judge and convict those of us who are linked to the autonomist movement for the reconstruction of the Mapuche nation. This is undoubtedly a targeted and intentional appointment.
In the Huracán case, the situation was and remains the same: the state is ultimately responsible for this staging, but only a few police officers and state agents are prosecuted and convicted, while nothing is said about the prosecutors and judges who had an illicit influence and participation in this staging and who were appointed for this task. Similarly, no political leader in power has been prosecuted or convicted.
But what is most revealing is that today, it is these same prosecutors who are behind the criminal and political persecution of the Mapuche autonomist movement, which continues to struggle.
Finally, we must not forget and must consider that once the civil and military dictatorship ended, the Chilean oligarchy had already put in place a very effective strategy to normalize its political sector and its containment strategies with the complicity of the transitional government, an oligarchy linked to the dictator and human rights violations.
Today, the Chilean far-right agenda has been reinstated, which is why Ljubetic’s appointment clarifies the line that the new government will follow with regard to the repression of our political and cultural positions of struggle, and the historical conflict that continues to this day… “Nothing new under the sun,” we say in this context.
⚫️6 – In this context of convictions, changes of government, and new appointments, what concrete consequences does the CAM foresee for communities and for the evolution of the conflict in the short and medium term?
In the current context of the conflict, there is a new order imposed by the ruling power, which translates into more targeted political persecution, which at the time was aimed at the CAM and its spokespersons, as well as its historical leaders. The repression has also been directed at other territorial resistance organizations, persecuting their most prominent weichafe. Added to this is the clear militarization of Wallmapu, besieging communities in resistance, thus seeking to broaden the scope of indiscriminate repression against all expressions of resistance by our people in terms of territorial claims, mainly against communities that have dignified recovery processes. Essentially, what is emerging is a political-military strategy aimed at curbing the territorial control maintained by the communities.
There is no doubt that a fascist and militaristic offensive will be launched against the mobilized communities. It is therefore necessary for our people, the lof of the territories, to organize trawun-nutram in order to face this new attack, where we can analyze the possible paths to take based on the capacity for organization and the proposals that emerge from the people, with a more concrete and courageous position.
However, this is a task that requires conviction and a great deal of newen, given that the policies of security and repression are already clear, as under the Boric government they have been very harsh towards the communities and leaders of the struggle. We therefore propose that communities be organized and prepared to defend all that has been achieved in terms of territory and politics, because expressions of resistance are ready to continue on the path to liberation.
We are also aware that today we are witnessing a new invasion of Wallmapu, which is the modern occupation of our ancestral territory by transnational capital and a more fascist state. That is why the organizations at the forefront will open spaces for reflection and internal discussion in order to maintain a permanent willingness to fight for territorial and political demands, because no one will make us give up our conviction that the Mapuche cause is absolutely legitimate, and we will not give up. The recovery of land is the strategic axis for the reconstruction of our original nation.
The Mapuche nation is recognized throughout the world as a warrior people in permanent resistance, of which Chileans should also be proud. It is time to join forces!
Weuwaiñ
Source:
Red Latina sin fronteras: https://redlatinasinfronteras.wordpress.com/2026/02/06/resistencia-mapuche-habra-lucha-entrevista-a-hector-llaitul/