Her disappearance came after she had received repeated threats from a lumber businessman. On Monday, Chilean social, territorial and humanitarian organizations held demonstrations demanding that President Gabriel Boric’s government accelerate investigations into the disappearance of Mapuche leader Julia Chuñil. RELATED: Bedouins and Mapuches: One Fight for Land and Identity This 73-year-old woman, who was president […]

The Boric administration has shown passivity and sluggishness in the investigation of this case. On Thursday, social activists held protests demanding concrete action from the Chilean state in the case of Julia Chuñil Catricura, a Mapuche land defender and president of the Putreguel community in the Los Rios Region, who disappeared six months ago. RELATED: […]

Two ancestral peoples—the Mapuches in the lush lands of southern Latin America and the Bedouins in the arid expanses of the Arabian Desert—share a common struggle: preserving their identity and autonomy in a world that prioritizes “development” over ancestral rights.  The Mapuches, whose name means “people of the earth” in their language, now retain just […]

‘She was fighting against a very powerful landowner,’ said her granddaughter. On Monday, the silence of the government of Chilean President Gabriel Boric sparked criticism from the relatives of Julia Chuñil, a 70-year-old Indigenous woman and environmental defender who has been missing for 128 days. RELATED: Fires in Argentine Patagonia: Mapuche Communities Face Repression and […]

The Mapuche communities denounced the police raids as part of a political persecution against the Mapuche-Tehuelche people. Related: Milei Declares Mapuche Ancestral Resistance a Terrorist Organization This Tuesday, the Mapuche people and various Argentine organizations spoke out against the recent intervention by the unified command forces of Patagonia, established by Governor Ignacio Torres. The operation, […]

She was actively involved in protecting 900 hectares of native forest in the Mafil commune. On Monday, the Escazu Now Foundation filed a criminal complaint with the Los Lagos Court of Guarantee regarding the disappearance of the Mapuche indigenous leader Julia Chuñil. RELATED: Mapuche Leader Hector Llaitul’s Health Deteriorates in a Chilean Prison This 73-year-old […]