The hunger strike by four Mapuche activists, condemned to prison terms of ten years following an accusation of arson, has reached forty days. The four – brothers Juan and Jaime Marileo, Juan Henulao, and Patricia Troncoso – stopped taking food on March 13 to denounce the conduct of Chilean authorities, who are applying Pinochet-era laws against terrorism. The old law automatically turns all Mapuche officials and supporters into terrorists and applies heavy penalties for those arrested. The prisoners’ hunger strike has caused a rift within the government.

A proposal for amnesty, presented recently by socialist senator Alejandro Navarro, still hasn’t received a response from his colleagues in the Bachelet government. With the Mapuche controversy, Bachelet may be facing the first glitch in her rosy foreign relations with Europe, which up to now has viewed her very favorably. Mapuche organizations in Belgium, Sweden, and Great Britain have begun an awareness-raising campaign in support of the hunger strike, urging the European parliament to condemn the Chilean government. The Mapuche argue that Chile systematically violates the human rights of the indigenous population. Last Friday, club-wielding Carabineros broke up a demonstration in Valparaiso to support the strike. and arrested a dozen protesters.

Currently, twelve Mapuche activists are being held in Chilean prisons under the antiterrorism laws. A request to review the cases, sent by indigenous organizations to Michelle Bachelet, has yet to receive a response. Instead, Bachelet has sent Congress a law on the recognition of indigenous peoples, which she wants passed immediately, but she is facing powerful opposition from the major native groups. The government was forced to take a step backward on the issue due to opposition in the form of street demonstrations by unions and indigenous groups.
Bachelet still hasn’t responded to a request for dialogue toward negotiations to review the articles of the Constitution that cover treatment of native peoples. She prefers to wait to answer until after June 24, the date set for a meeting between the government and Mapuche leaders.

The Mapuche once fought a legal battle for their rights to the land against the famous clothing company Benetton. The recent events make it clear that the Mapuche problem remains something more than an irritating stone in the shoe of the new Chilean administration. The law on the recognition of native peoples was created for the benefit of the large landowners, without considering the needs of the native peoples themselves. The text makes no mention that the indigenous people were first to inhabit the territory of Chile, nor does it make reference to the ancient communitarian ownership structure at the base of native society, which maintained social cohesion throughout South America. The Mapuche also complain that the law provides no mechanism for political participation and dialogue between the State and native people. The United Nations has been urging the government to find a formula that will allow the indigenous community to participate actively in national politics. Although Chile signed the international treaty on Indigenous Peoples in 2000, it has yet to ratify the treaty in the Senate, rendering it virtually ineffectual. Until now, denial has been Chile’s primary response to dealing with indigenous issues. Now it’s up to Bachelet to demonstrate whether or not there is a commitment to change.