Argentina's Ambassador to Chile Rafael Bielsa has turned up at a Chilean judicial hearing to defend incarcerated self-proclaimed Mapuche leader Facundo Jones Huala even though the latter has vociferously relinquished his Argentine citizenship.
Following a video release in which a group of hooded and heavily armed individuals calling themselves the Mapuche Territory Resistance, who occupied by force the administration offices of a Chilean National Park, the government o President Sebastian Piñera lodged a criminal complaint against them plus demanding their eviction.
The Argentine province of Rio Negro has requested federal aid to control violent attacks from alleged Mapuche communities against people and property over the weekend.
Following on another arson attack in the Chilean region of La Araucanía, the land of the Mapuche indigenous communities, the presidential delegate Victor Manoli has called on Congress to speed legislation to pursue and arrest the culprits of these terrorist actions
Growing unrest in Chile's Araucanía region, where the aboriginal communities mainly Mapuches are demanding the government honours treaties dating back to the Spanish conquest and later when Chile emerged as an independent country.
Chilean officials strongly condemned the display of guns during the funeral of a man who was killed in a shootout with Carabineros following an arson attack, which took place last Friday in an estate in La Araucanía Region.
Chilean President Sebastian Piñera highlighted an attack in the country´s Araucania region that resulted in the injury of a 9-year-old girl, saying it was a reason to crack down on violent unrest in Chile's south.
Mapuche Council of All Lands spokesman Aucán Huilcamán Sunday anticipated conflict and tension will increase between his community and the government of President Sebastián Piñera since there was no dialogue between them and each one sticked to their separate agendas.
A Chinese renewable energy investment in Patagonia was halted after no agreement could be reached with the small mapuche community living where the wind turbines were going to be installed.
Chilean president Michelle Bachelet is ending her term with an ambitious proposal for a new constitution that would ensure equal pay for men and women and strengthen guarantees of the right to strike. Bachelet sent the proposal to Congress on Tuesday, just five days before she leaves office.