A Trojan Horse Named Llaitul

El Líbero, August 20, 2022

With his words, the leader of the CAM pressures the PC to oppose the military deployment in the south, cornering it to shed the sheep’s clothing that has allowed it to be with the government and respond as it did in earlier times.

June 10, 2022, community center of Lo Hermida, Peñalolén. More than 100 people gathered to listen to the special guest, Héctor Llaitul. His remarks about timber theft resonated strongly in public opinion, but little has been said about Llaitul’s mention of the PC.

Recalling his time in the Patriotic Front, he says he met “old communists, very nice, very beautiful people, who fought to recover the supposed democracy,” and also claimed to have met “the true communists,” who are very different from those currently in government and justifying the State of Exception in the Southern Macrozone. What will Jadue, Tellier, Carol Cariola, and even Camila Vallejo think of comments like this? Are they not true communists?

The PC plays an important role in the government, not only because it has one of its members in the cabinet, but also because during the presidential campaign it supported Gabriel Boric’s candidacy, contributing to his victory. Thus, the first government of the Broad Front has two souls, both on the left, but one more than the other.One that would be willing to concede more than the other. One where the State of Chile comes first and another where the political project will always take precedence over everything else. Two souls that must be able to agree on basic definitions to restore peace in La Araucanía and respond to the CAM. Will they be able to do it? I have serious doubts about that. 

Llaitul leads a military political project based on a strategy that asserts that the Mapuche people are oppressed by the State and that forestry companies have taken their territory and resources, thus necessitating the development of the struggle for national liberation, autonomy, and territory. The CAM does not recognize itself as part of the State and does not wish to be; only independence is the desired goal. How to achieve it? With a defined discipline and strategy, certainly. But also with a consistent narrative that could undermine the State and the two souls currently governing it from within. 

With his words, he pressures the PC to oppose the military deployment in the south, cornering it to shed the sheep’s clothing that has allowed it to be with the government and respond as it did in earlier times. He challenges both the PC and the government, telling them they are just like their predecessor, whom they criticized so much. 

The responses did not take long to arrive. Daniel Jadue stated that “they are finally reclaiming something that is rightfully theirs and that was sold in an absolutely illegal manner.” How quickly one of the souls of the government awakened! The former presidential candidate of the PC did not take long to align with Llaitul. Neither does that party forget the true communists, nor does the spokesperson for the CAM forget that he is one of them. However, what we must not forget is the narrative that Llaitul has constructed. A consistent, solid narrative that may be surpassing that defended by the PC. 

What will that soul of the government that prioritizes the State say? The one that has promoted limited States of Exception and seeks to combat violence in the south? Let it not be that the more leftist soul prevails, let it not be that the PC aligns with Llaitul, let it not be that the leader of the CAM is the Trojan Horse that destroys from within the two souls of the first government of the Broad Front in Chile. 

Pilar Lizana
Researcher at AthenaLab

Source: El Líbero

---

_{*The comments and opinions expressed represent the views of their authors, not necessarily those of the institution.}