Distorted Usurpations

El Líbero, September 29, 2023

The Minister of the Interior must be able to navigate internal political pressures. Succumbing to them would grant more power to the Communist Party and damage the little political capital that remains for the government.

Once again, the ideology of a sector complicates the political debate on security matters. In a country where the death of a businessman occurs as a result of his actions to evict his occupied land, where usurpation is the beginning of the illicit timber market cycle, where the occupation of Alto Hospicio houses individuals linked to organized crime, and where occupied lands are subdivided, sold, or rented for profit, the discussion proposed by the Communist Party is unacceptable.

Non-violent usurpation and specifying the intent to appropriate are the key ideas that the Communist Party seeks to position in the discussion of the usurpation project. First, usurpation, by definition, involves violence or intimidation, and second, anyone who enters private land to perform an action such as ‘spending the night’ is violating someone else’s territory.

Since the origins of Communism in the 19th century, the right to private property has been contradictory to its principles. Although history has progressed and the current context is not the same as that of the 1800s, the conflict with property remains. This is further clarified in the leaked document from the Communist Party to the press, which states that the bill seeks to punish those who ‘occupy without the intent to be a lord or owner’ and in the request to the Executive to remove the prison sentence for those who usurp land without violence.

The State, by definition, must safeguard the well-being of its citizens, and the assertions of the communists go against that. It is not possible to categorize a peaceful occupation differently or endorse it for someone to carry out a temporary action. The violation of private property is the same: someone is dispossessed of their property, whether permanently or momentarily, but dispossessed nonetheless.

Furthermore, it is not possible to separate the bill from the illicit markets that develop in Chile or from criminal actions. Today, in many cases, violence is associated with the illegal occupation of a territory or property; not to mention, the Arauco Malleco Coordinator has called to defend, if necessary, the lands that have been occupied with arms.

The government has two souls, it has been said countless times, but today more than ever, attention must be paid to this, especially when one of them is pressing hard against a fundamental right of Chileans: their property.

The deterioration of the security scenario led the ruling party to change its agenda, promote laws it had previously rejected, support the police, and call on the Armed Forces. Reality quickly showed them that ‘another thing is with a guitar,’ but the most conservative party in the coalition is uncomfortable with the programmatic adjustment.

Today the Minister of the Interior must be able to navigate internal political pressures. Succumbing to them would grant more power to the Communist Party and damage the little political capital that remains for the government.

Pilar Lizana
Researcher, AthenaLab

Source: El Líbero