The Chilean Parliament supported the decision of the President of the Republic Sebastián Piñera to extend for a further 15 days the state of exception in the Southern Macrozone of Chile, which includes the provinces of Biobío and Arauco, in the Biobío region, and Cautín and Malleco, in the 'Araucanía. This is a measure that was first adopted on 12 October 2021 and has been renewed every 15 days since then. According to the government, it would be necessary due to the escalation of violent episodes in the context of the historic "Mapuche conflict", which sees militants of the Mapuche population and the state armed and police forces deployed on opposing fronts.
With the extension of a further 15 days of the so-called State of Emergency Constitutional Exception (EECE) in the Southern Macrozone of Chile wanted by the outgoing President Sebastián Piñera, supported by the Parliament, the Chilean government has confirmed its willingness to continue with a repressive attitude and violent against the Mapuche people. According to what was declared by the Minister of the Interior Juan Francisco Galli, the measure is motivated by the "succession of violent events", following which the President of the Republic decided to "put all state powers in support of the police forces to prevent and avoid violence and help determine the responsibility of those who carry it out ". According to Galli, violent episodes have already been reduced by 48% in this way.
Gabriel Boric, the newly elected president who will not take office before 11 March, has already expressed his disagreement with the adoption of this measure several times and has already announced that he has no intention of further renewing it when he becomes effective President. "A state of exception cannot become normality," said Boric, above all because "it is not proving useful in achieving peace". However, Boric himself did not rule out the possibility of having recourse to it in the future: "You must never discard an instrument provided by the rule of law," he said.
The areas affected by the provision are the subject of a clash between the state and the Mapuche community for sovereignty over the territories, which has worsened in recent months. The Mapuche people in fact claim an ancestral right over the areas, as they are the property of the original populations from which they have been illegitimately removed from colonial rule. Both the Chilean and Argentine states, in order to encourage foreign investment, have granted large areas of indigenous territories to large foreign private companies: the extent of illegally stolen land is estimated to be around 500,000 hectares. With the establishment of a state of exception in Chile, the Armed Forces will be able to collaborate with police operations and increase repression against the insurgents.
The Mapuche conflict must be understood in the light of a historical experience of humiliation and usurpation, which now leads to a struggle for the recognition and restoration of one's collective dignity. The repressive action of the state, in exercising its right to punish, shows all its blindness and the inability to resolve the root problem by opening a dialogue and listening to indigenous claims.