MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Shootout between Chilean police and members of indigenous communities

Jorge Huenchullan, the local werken (leader and courier) who is on the run following a preventive prison order and for which he did not show up.

A police raid in a Chilean indigenous community in Ercilla, Araucanía Region the stronghold of the Mapuche tribe went uncompleted and ended in a serious shootout between members of the Carabineros, Investigation Police and local residents.

Law enforcement officers had a court order to enter the community based on claims of robbery and violence, plus an order to arrest a person who infringed the drugs and arms legislation. The person was identified as Jorge Huenchullan, a local werken (leader and courier) who is on the run following a preventive prison order from a court and for which he did not show up.

The head of the raid, Inspector Domingo Silva said his staff when they entered the community were received by gun shots and luckily no officer was injured, but is was not possible to fully comply with the court orders. The raid was a consequence of reiterated cases of violent robberies of vehicles, while the arrest of the werken was ordered by a different prosecution office,

Chilean Interior minister (Home Secretary) Rodrigo Delgado said that the failed operation “reminds us of those who in similar situation assassinated on 7 January, Inspector Luis Morales, the same bullets that impeded the arrest of a person under investigation for drug trafficking”

“What are they trying to hide from the Police, from the courts, but also from the whole community, of what is really going on in Temucuicui?”

“Linked to some members of that community are narco-dealers with drugs, guns, munitions, stolen cars, and now they have a kind of criminal corps guard which every time the police tries to go in is attacked with high caliber guns”, minister Delgado said.

But the Temucuicui did not keep quiet and replied publicly saying that “werken Hunchullán had resorted to ”political and clandestine action“, because the racist Chilean Justice system ignores humanitarian reasons and government officials have openly defamed us before any court sentence”.

“We are making public that werken Jorge Huenchullan had to resort to ”political and clandestine action“ following on the order of going to jail under preventive conditions. This decision is based on our deep concern about the health conditions of Jorge Huenchullan, who after spending fourteen days with tubes in a very delicate health condition, the Chilean racist judicial system does not consider humanitarian reasons”

“Both our werken as our autonomous community of Temucuicui have been publicly defamed with racist expressions both from the Interior minister Rodrigo Delgado and his Deputy Juan Francismo Galli, taking as granted the court sentence against Huenchullan and the existence of an alleged criminal organization, which is entirely false and we will show so, when the time comes”

Police allege that when they raided in January the home of the Huenchullan family at the Temucuicui community, they found 12 kilos of processed drug and 500 cannabis plants besides a 22 caliber revolver and ammo. During the raid a member of the Police Investigations Department was shot dead.