Araucanía: burned trucks, more than just violence

El Líbero, August 25, 2023

The eight organizations operating in the Southern Macrozone have created a conflict scenario where criminal organizations have developed illicit “businesses” that exploit people’s needs, raw material extraction, and the absence of the State.

On several occasions, the government highlighted the arrest of Llaitul and how it affected the actions of the Arauco Malleco Coordinator (CAM), but that achievement only triggered a domino effect where the space left by the CAM would be filled by others, in this case, the Mapuche Malleco Resistance (RMM).

The four trucks burned during the early hours of Thursday are just a demonstration that the problem in the Southern Macrozone is not related to a particular organization, but rather to the fact that rural violence expressed in terrorist acts must be addressed as a single issue where different actors seek power and territorial control, developing competition among themselves.

The well-known balloon effect, where pressure in one area simply causes air to move to another, is what is currently observed in the south, and unless the State is designing a strategy that addresses the situation with a comprehensive vision aligned with national security objectives, success will be far from reach.

The State of Exception is becoming the norm, civil society is organizing to confront these groups, and industry associations are denouncing the impact that violence has on their sectors. The military is being called upon as the universal response to all our ills; however, neither the exception nor the Armed Forces are the definitive solution.

Power and control are the concepts behind what is happening in the south, where the means of exercising them is through violence in order to wrest them from the State. Removing it from the territory to carry out political and criminal objectives is what lies behind the attacks.

Decades of violence in the area have only deepened the chaos, which has been exploited by crime. It is time to start discussing the lessons learned from years of confronting this problem, where all actors are seated at the table and the victims are placed at the center of the discussion.

Without developing serious work that considers everyone’s perspective, it will be difficult to advance toward peace. Dedicated to timber theft, common crime, or using violence as a method of political action, the eight organizations interacting in the area have created a conflict scenario that has transformed that part of Chile into a region where criminal organizations have developed illicit “businesses” that exploit people’s needs, raw material extraction, and the absence of the State.

Force and politics must unite in a comprehensive response. The first, to control crime and, supported by justice, to arrest, investigate, and sanction all those responsible; and the second, to design a path that can restore development, security, and well-being to that part of the country.

Dismantling violence and restoring the rule of law should be the objectives, which cannot be clouded by ideological views. Reality is singular and cannot wait.

Pilar Lizana
Researcher at Athenalab