MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Boric outlines proposed solution to Mapuche conflict

Boric suggested adopting the recommendations of a Commission created in 2023

Chilean President Gabriel Boric Font announced Thursday in a broadcast message a comprehensive plan to address the Mapuche conflict, based on recommendations from the Commission for Peace and Understanding. The key measures include:

⦁ Reform the current “deficient” land restitution system, which would take over 100 years at the current pace, to create an efficient and transparent process, with consultations planned for the Mapuche people in line with ILO Convention 169.

⦁ Strengthen the Program of Support to Victims of Rural Violence with psychosocial care and update the victim cadaster, alongside a proposed bill for Integral Reparation.

⦁ Propose a constitutional reform to recognize indigenous peoples, including the Mapuche, Aymara, Rapa Nui, and others, fulfilling a long-standing demand.

⦁ Establish a high-level body for indigenous affairs, modernize the Public Registry of Indigenous Lands and the General Archive of Indigenous Affairs, and strengthen Conadi.

⦁ Design an investment plan for Arauco and Malleco to boost employment and entrepreneurship, aiming to foster peace through economic opportunities.

Boric emphasized the need for national unity, calling for collaboration across state powers, civil society, and Mapuche communities. The plan addresses a centuries-old conflict, intensified over the last three decades, with significant land demands (486,008 hectares, costing some US$ 4 billion) and a history of violence (60 deaths, 1,468 injuries, and 8,926 acts of violence between 2013 and 2024). The President framed these measures as a historic opportunity for peace and unity, requiring long-term state commitment beyond his administration.

Boric highlighted that the Commission, created in June 2023 and led by Alfredo Moreno and Francisco Huenchumilla, achieved a “historic contribution” by proposing concrete solutions after listening to more than 5,000 people from the regions of Bío Bío, La Araucanía, Los Ríos, and Los Lagos, including Mapuche representatives, victims of violence, business associations, political parties, and international organizations.

“Chile is not condemned to eternalize this conflict. We can resolve it with the tools of democracy,” Boric insisted while underlining that Chile would gain “in peace and unity.”