INDIGENOUS PEOPLES RIGHTS IN CHILE:

1. INTRODUCTION.

Chile has historically denied its ethnic and cultural diversity. The country's ruling class has been able to build and internalize in the minds of the people the idea that ours is a racially homogenous society, basically of European origin.

This idea, which for centuries has been promoted through different means, including family, school, and literature, became dominant during the republican period, giving birth to the myth, still believed by many, of the Chileans as being the "English of South America".

The few recognitions that were made regarding indigenous peoples' dealt with their past, not with their present. The image of the brave Mapuche who resisted the Spaniard conqueror due to their libertarian spirit, became socially accepted and promoted.

Consistent with these ideas, until recently their current population was perceived by many as remaining pockets of the so called "Araucanian indians", living in small areas of lands or "reducciones" which were left to them after their territory was occupied by the army at the end of the last century.

These remaining indians were socially seen as folkloric people of tourist interest, and as such, promoted through travel agencies and media.

The main governmental concern about these "populations" was their situation of poverty. In order to confront this problem, policies encouraging their economic development, not different than those promoted for peasants, were proposed by the state. These government policies, obviously applied to them without consultation, varied in time according to the dominant ideological perspectives, ranging from liberalism to socialism, but did not differ substantially in their assimilating approaches.

Chilean legal framework was also inspired by these concepts. The national constitution, up until today, acknowledges the existence of one people, the Chilean, excluding all others from its provisions. Similarly, until recently the laws did not recognize these peoples, their cultures, or their languages. The few that were passed regarding them, dealt with their lands and the means to incorporate them into the individual property system and the economic strategies defined by the government.

If Chileans have been reluctant to accept the existence of these peoples' as others, we have had more difficulties in recognizing their presence within ourselves. This explains why we have denied what is evident to the eyes of visitors; our mix blood condition due to our indigenous ancestry, as well as the indigenous influence in our culture, a reality which is common to most Latin American countries.

This situation may help to understand why many were surprised when, in 1992, the official population census outcome showed that almost one million Chileans of a total of thirteen declared to be part of one of the three indigenous "cultures" that were acknowledged (Aymara, Rapa Nui or Mapuche).⁽¹⁾

According to experts estimation, this population rises to 1.3 millions, which equals to 10 per cent of the total population of Chile, if those under the age of 14 are considered. ⁽²⁾

The reactions of many have been of reluctance to admit the hidden reality that has emerged from this census, which was performed in the context of the redemocratization of the country and of the 500 years anniversary of Columbus arrival to the "new world".

Nevertheless, these numbers have been of great importance to destroy the long term myths constructed by Chilean society regarding its ethnic composition. They also have been helpful for the recognition of indigenous peoples as distinct societies with special rights within the context of the Chilean state.

2. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND.

Like in the rest of the American continent, at the time of the European arrival, differentiated peoples' with their own languages, religions, laws, forms of governments and subsistence, with a population estimated in more than one million, lived in the territory which is now Chile, from northern extremity to Tierra del Fuego. ⁽³⁾

The arrival of the Spaniards introduced significant alterations into these peoples' life. The ideas guiding the Conquerors in their American enterprise, led them to impose the natives their laws and beliefs, as well as to take possession of their lands and wealth, severely affecting their integrity and subsistence.

The conquest of Chile was not an exception in this regard. The Spaniards attempted to control the vast territory until then inhabited by indigenous peoples' and to subject them by means of the foundation of fortified cities, the distribution of their lands to their soldiers in payment for their services to the crown, and the assignment of natives to the latter through the "encomienda" system. ⁽⁴⁾

The Spaniards attempt to control the lands of these peoples' was frustrated by Mapuche resistance, which lasted for almost three centuries. The Mapuche were able to expel the conquerors from their territories in southern Chile, where they continued to live independently after the negotiation of a series of parleys (parlamentos) or treaties with the newcomers, the best known of which was the parley of Quilin in 1641.

According to these parleys, the Bio Bio river was established as a border between both peoples', recognizing the independence of the Mapuche territory and authorities. Likewise, the Mapuche committed themselves to respect this border, let the missionaries and traders enter into their territory, and agreed to send the prisoners back. ⁽⁵⁾

The contact with the newcomers, nevertheless, in addition to the introduction of important changes in these peoples' cultures, resulted in a strong reduction of their population. Aside from the deaths caused by the war, the introduction of unknown diseases brought in by the Spaniards (Typhus, smallpox and syphilis among others) resulted in the death of many.⁽⁶⁾

On the other hand, the imposition of the "encomienda" system on those Mapuche living in Chile's central valley (the Picunche), and their settlement in indigenous "pueblos" or villages until the end of the colonial period, resulted in their blending with the Spanish population, thus giving birth to a new population of mixed blood or "criollo" origin which assumed a new cultural identity, influenced by that of their indigenous ancestors, but also by the Spanish. ⁽⁷⁾

The advent of the Republic did not introduce substantial changes in these peoples' situation. In spite of the acknowledgement of the free status of native population, as well as of their equality with the rest of the population, made by Chile's liberator, Bernardo O'Higgins, through Supreme Edict of 1819, the Mapuche continued to live for independently several decades in their ancestral lands south of the Bio Bio. There, they maintained their territorial autonomy, laws, authorities and traditions as for centuries before had done.

Decades later, by mid XIX century, Chilean authorities in Santiago started debating the need to take control over the Mapuche territory, as well as to include their rich lands in the agricultural development strategy of the country. For this purpose, the Parliament passed a law in 1866 declaring the lands south of the Bio Bio river to be "fiscal", empowering authorities the right to allocate them to individuals for their colonization, and creating a commission in charge of settling down the indians in those lands over which they were able to prove possession.

Parallel to this, the Chilean army, with the support of the government, launched a strategy in order to enable the military occupation of their territory. Although the Mapuche resisted this occupation, in what was euphemistically called "Pacification of the Araucania", the army ended up defeating and subjugating them, imposing Chilean laws and authorities over their ancestral lands by 1881.⁽⁸⁾

Immediately after this occupation, the Mapuche were settled down in lands granted by the State through communal titles extended to their Chiefs and family members. The 3.000 "reducciones", as these titles were called due to the reduction they imposed on the size indigenous traditional lands, granted by the State to the Mapuche, included 510.000 hectares of land, which represented only 6.39 % of their ancestral territory south of the Bio Bio river.⁽⁹⁾

The remaining land was left for colonization, either with European settlers that were encouraged to come by the government, to whom they were given upon their arrival, or by Chilean colonizers, to whom the lands were sold at convenient prices. ⁽¹⁰⁾

Parallel to this, the Chilean State annexed its territory in 1879 part of what were Peruvian and Bolivian Andean highlands in the north, where the Aymara lived, as well as Easter Island (1888), which constituted the homeland of the Rapa Nui people. During the same period, Chilean authorities granted in concession to individuals large extensions of lands in Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, in what constituted the traditional lands of the Aonikenk (Tehuelches) and the Selknam (Onas), without reserving for them any land that would allow their physical and cultural subsistence.

Since then until recent years, the laws and policies applied by the Chilean State to these peoples', save rare exceptions, have been oriented to promote their assimilation into national society, demonstrating little respect for their cultures and identities.

These assimilationist policies had their maximum expression under the military government of General Pinochet between 1973 and 1989, period during which, together with the repression of indigenous organizations, a legislation imposing a clear threat to the subsistence of their lands and cultures, as well as to their existence as peoples, was enacted.⁽¹¹⁾

3. CURRENT SITUATION OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES.

After centuries of European presence in what now constitutes the Chilean territory, some of these peoples', such as those who inhabited in the extreme south, have virtually disappeared.⁽¹²⁾

Others have been able to subsist in different ways and conditions until today. The following is a brief description of their current situation:

3.1. The Mapuche.

With a population of 928.060, the Mapuche is by far, according to the 1992 population census, the largest indigenous people in Chile. ⁽¹³⁾

Of that number, only 160.363 representing 17,28 per cent continue to live in rural communities in southern Chile, meanwhile more than 80 per cent live outside these communities mainly in urban areas. ⁽¹⁴⁾

The current situation of this people is in many ways a consequence of the laws and policies implemented by the State towards them throughout the century, most of which have been oriented to the division of their communal lands, and their allotment into individual lands ruled by the general provisions of property law.

Together with the division of their lands, the same laws have encouraged the transference of the individual properties which have been allotted to them as a consequence of this process to non indigenous persons, which have acquired them throughout the century by different means, including purchase and leases up to 99 years.

The diminution experienced on the size of Mapuche lands due to these laws, and the growth experienced in their population during the last decades, have deeply affected their ability to maintain their traditional lifestyles and deteriorated their quality of life. In fact, meanwhile on average, the lands allotted to them by the State during the eighties after the division of their communal lands, were of 5.36 hectares, the number of persons that were living in each of these allotted lands was of 6.3. ⁽¹⁵⁾

Statistics show the changes experienced in the lives of rural Mapuche during the last years. Mapuche families living in rural communities have become older, increasing from an average of 28,9 years old in 1982 to 31,05 years old in 1995. The number of housekeepers with less than four years of school in the same year (1995) reached to 79.2 percent of the total. Among youngsters ranging from 20 to 24 years old, only 73.22 percent have finished elementary education. Only ten percent of the mapuche houses have electricity, and 20 per cent of them have no radio or electronic equipment at all. Due to migration, the number of women living in these communities had decreased, meanwhile the proportion of man had increased (by 1995 women represented 38 percent of the community members, meanwhile men represented 62 percent). Finally, in terms of employment, according to the 1992 census, 43,53 percent of the active population are subsistence farmers, meanwhile 31,43 are hired as labourers, mostly outside of their communities. ⁽¹⁶⁾

Although less information regarding the condition of urban Mapuche is available, their is evidence that they are among the poor of the poor, living in shanty towns in the margins of cities such as Santiago, Temuco and Concepcion, unemployed or employed in activities such as bakeries or construction, receiving minimum wages and lacking employment stability as well as social security services.

With a long tradition of organization, the Mapuche, instead of weakening as a consequence of the repression exercised against them by the military regime, strengthened their organizations and demands during that time. Several organizations created in their territory during that time in resistance of military regime policies, played a significant role in the defense of their land and political rights then suppressed, and later, actively participated in the process leading up to the restoration of democracy in 1990. Although some of them continue to be powerful and exercise leadership over their people until today, new organizations of a territorial nature focusing their work in the recuperation of their ancestral territories and the acquisition of political power within them, have emerged in the last years. Others who focus on the achievement of political and territorial autonomy of their people from the Chilean State have been created, acquiring prestige at the international level.

3.2. The Aymara.

According to the 1992 census, the current Aymara population is estimated in 48 thousand.⁽¹⁷⁾ Of this population, two thirds migrated from their ancestral homelands in the northern Andes, in the border with Peru and Bolivia, towards cities located in the Atacama desert (Calama, Pozo Almonte, among others), or to the nearest coastal ports (Arica and Iquique). The remaining third, continues to live a rural life in the highlands of the Andes, above 3.000 meters, where they are devoted to the breeding of llama and alpacas, or in the desert valleys where they devote their lives to agriculture depending on irrigation. ⁽¹⁸⁾

It is worth noting that up to date, the Aymara have maintained an economy based on the occupation and trade among different ecological levels existing in that zone, fundamentally the coast, the intermediate valleys and the highlands. The active trade between these levels has allowed them to preserve their culture in the various territorial spaces where they inhabit.

After the incorporation of their ancestral territories to Chile, the Aymara have been practically ignored by authorities. No legislation in their favor has ever been implemented. The only policies applied to their population, mandatory education and military service, have been oriented to attain their assimilation to the Chilean culture. ⁽¹⁹⁾

Unlike the case of the Mapuche, their lands were never acknowledged to them by law, being considered to be of fiscal property. The lack of legal acknowledgement and protection of Aymara lands has generated significant conflicts due to their registration by other Aymara or non indigenous persons.

Nevertheless, the most significant problem affecting their rural communities is that related to the loss of their ancestral waters by virtue of the 1981 water code passed by the military regime. The application of this code for almost two decades, has allowed the development of a process of appropriation of Aymara's waters by mining companies. These companies have successfully requested the State water concessions for their developments. As a consequence, their communities have been deprived of this vital element for their agricultural or pastoral activities, the drying of their lands, and increasing their migration process to the neighbouring cities.

3.3. The Rapa Nui.

With a population of 21.000 thousand according to the 1992 census, this people live mainly in Rapa Nui or Easter Islands, located in the Pacific Ocean more than 3000 kilometres west of the continent, and in the region of Valparaiso in central Chile.⁽²⁰⁾

Following the agreement subscribed between the Rapa Nui Chiefs and the Chilean State in 1888, by virtue of which the sovereignity of the Island was granted to Chile, the ancestral homeland of the Rapa Nui was administered until 1953 by a foreign corporation (Compania Explotadora de Isla de Pascua). This company, turned the island into a farm, relegating islanders to live in a reduced part of their lands (Hanga Roa), and submitting them into a semi slavery regime.

In 1933, the lands of Easter Island were registered by the Chilean State at its name in the continent, whithout consultation whatsoever to the Rapa Nui, thus legally dispossessing this people of their rights over the island's soil.

It was only in 1966 that Rapa Nui people acquired citizens rights, when under a special law (Law No 16.411), they were granted the right to vote for the election of authorities, both local and national.

During the military regime, the island's Municipal Mayor was appointed by the government in Santiago. The total absence of participation mechanisms for the Rapa Nui community resulted in the strengthening of their ancestral organization, the Elders Council, an entity composed by the 36 Rapa Nui remaining families, which has played a relevant role in demanding the rights of their people.

Also during the military regime, a law was passed (D.L. No 2885) openly ignoring the Rapa Nui ownership of the land. According to this law, the Rapa Nui could request the government the issuance of individual property titles over lands then occupied by them, equivalent only to 7.5 % of the island, thus legitimating the fiscal dominion over the remaining lands existing there. ⁽²¹⁾

For years, the central demand of this Council has been the restitution of their ancestral lands by the Chilean State. For this purpose, they have sued the government in the national Courts, as well as made presentations at international forums dealing with the rights of indigenous peoples. Until now the Rapa Nui have not been successful in this goal.⁽²²⁾

4. INDIGENOUS PEOPLES RIGHTS UNDER DEMOCRACY: PROGRESSES AND CONTRADICTIONS.

Indigenous peoples' actively participated in the recuperation of Chile's democracy in 1990. Their organizations played an important role in the process leading up to the restoration of democratic institutions. Due to this situation, many of their demands were a part of the government program that was presented to the electorate by the coalition of democratic parties (Concertacion) in the 1989 elections.

Understanding the importance of democracy as a framework for the achievement of their rights, their representative organizations signed an agreement with the Concertacion in 1989. According to this agreement, which is known as the "Acuerdo de Nueva Imperial", they would support this coalition in its efforts to reestablish democracy, in exchange for the legal and constitutional recognition of some basic rights. Among these rights they included, the acknowledgement of their existence as diverse peoples within the Chilean society, the recognition of their special cultures, identities and languages, the protection of the lands currently owned by them and the recuperation of those which they claim to belong them, the implementation of policies that would enable their economic development in a way consistent with their cultures, and the right to participate in the in decision regarding their future.⁽²³⁾

In accordance to the same agreement, the first Concertacion government, together with indigenous representatives from north to south, entered into a process leading to the drafting of a proposal for the legal and constitutional recognition of the rights before mentioned. The proposal was worked out through a Special Commission on Indigenous Peoples composed both of government representatives and of indigenous leaders elected by their organizations, representing the different indigenous peoples' of the country. The same initiative was afterwards debated in hundreds of meetings in rural communities and urban areas, and later, in January 1991, on a National Congress of Indigenous Peoples with the participation of 500 leaders.

The proposal was presented by the government to the National Congress in 1991 on a package which included, among other aspects, a constitutional amendment, a legal initiative and the ratification of Convention 169 of the International Labour Organization regarding the protection of these peoples rights.⁽²⁴⁾

Two years later, the Congress, whose composition was, and continues to be, not entirely democratic due to the provisions of the 1980 Constitution, approved a law (No 19253 of 1993) for the "protection , promotion and development of indigenous people" Nevertheless, neither the constitutional amendment, nor the ILO Convention presented to Congress, were approved, leaving them pendant up until today.

Notwithstanding the limitations imposed to indigenous demands on the process leading to its approval, this law acknowledges rights which were considered to be of great relevance to their organizations. Among them, the following are to be mentioned here:

- The recognition, for the first time in the country's legal history, of Chile as a multiethnic and multicultural society composed of different indigenous ethnic groups and communities; ⁽²⁵⁾

- The recognition of the duty of Chilean society in general, and of the State in particular, to respect, protect and promote the development of these "people", their culture, families and communities, as well as to protect indigenous lands, see to their adequate exploitation, ecological equilibrium and contribute to their expansion;

- The protection of the current indigenous lands granted by the State to them in the past, through a series of legal measures, and the establishment of a land and water fund, composed both of State financial resources and land or water rights. This fund should be used for the purpose of acquiring new lands or waters rights, or transferring those which currently belong to the State, to indigenous people or communities who depend upon them for their living;

- The establishment of a development fund aimed at providing indigenous people or communities with financial support enabling the implementation of economic or cultural initiatives which may contribute to the improvement of their quality of life in a manner which is compatible with their cultures;

- the establishment of the so called "indigenous development areas" in spaces which constitute the ancestral homelands of indigenous people, and where they represent a significant percentage of the population, areas which are aimed at promoting the coordination of States policies in benefit of the same people; ⁽²⁶⁾

- The recognition of the rights of these people and their legal organizations to be heard and considered in their opinions by government agencies when taking decisions regarding their lives;

- the acknowledgement and protection of their cultures and languages, and the promotion of a system for the implementation of a bilingual and intercultural education for indigenous students;

- And the establishment of a National Corporation for Indigenous Development (CONADI), including within this body the participation of indigenous representatives, as the state entity in charge of the implementation of the policies delineated in this law.

According to this legislation, the National Corporation for Indigenous Peoples (CONADI), including its National Council, composed of eight indigenous representatives and the same number of government representatives, was constituted in 1994.⁽²⁷⁾

Since then, until 1997, CONADI developed the tasks which were assigned to it by the indigenous law inspired in the spirit of the Nueva Imperial Agreement: as a public agency of a sui generis nature, composed not only by government representatives or bureaucrats, but also by indigenous representatives. In fact, Indigenous representation, far from being limited to their elected members at its National Council, has been present at all levels of this institution, including its National Director, a Mapuche professional actively involved in the struggle for their peoples' rights during the military regime, and also in an important percentage of the professionals hired by these agency to implement the policies delineated by the law.⁽²⁸⁾

4.1.Progresses achieved.

Not withstanding the legal, economic and political constraints that CONADI has faced during its first years of existence, many progresses have been achieved through its action benefiting the different indigenous peoples' existing in the country. These progresses are due to the efforts that have been made by CONADI and the indigenous organizations participating within it, in order to materialize the rights acknowledged to them.

Among these progresses, which are recognized by all sectors of society , the following should be highlighted:

- In relation with the right of indigenous people to participate the in decisions that affect them, although many problems continue to exist , significant improvements have been achieved. Among them, the creation of a growing number of indigenous organizations (more than one thousand communities and close to one hundred associations) with legal recognition during this period, enabling them to speak for their interests, as well as the active participation of indigenous representatives within CONADI, are to be mentioned.

- With regards to land rights, significant efforts have been made by CONADI to ensure the protection of the existing indigenous lands (500.000 hectares in the Mapuche territory), to impede the division of the remaining communal lands, as well as the contracts with non indigenous that could result in the loss of their lands. Moreover, the implementation of the land fund before refer to, has allowed CONADI to transfer to Mapuche individuals and communities close to 75.000 hectares of land in their territory, as well as an important quantity of water rights for the Aymara in northern Chile. ⁽²⁹⁾

Although insufficient to satisfy the needs and demands of the indigenous communities, these lands represent a substantial increase in those until recently owned by the Mapuche. If this program is projected to the future, it could result in the solution of most of the land problems existing in their territory in a reasonable period of time.

- The implementation of the development fund established in the law, has resulted in the materialization of a number of self-managed economic and cultural initiatives by indigenous organizations, both in rural and urban areas, helping their members to improve their quality of life in a way consistent with their culture.⁽³⁰⁾

Although clearly insufficient in relation to the needs of these peoples, the resources allocated for this program have enabled the materialization of projects dealing with sustainable forestry or agriculture in rural areas, the development of small scale industries in urban centres, the construction of community centers both in cities and rural communities, as well as programs dealing with bilingual and intercultural education, among others.⁽³¹⁾

More important, the efforts developed by many during these years, especially by indigenous peoples' themselves, and CONADI, have greatly helped Chilean society to become more aware of the ethnical and cultural diversity existing within it, and in many ways, especially among the youth, to acknowledge the contributions that these peoples' make to our society, its past and present. This should be seen as a first step in the long way leading to the establishment of a new relationship between these peoples' and the dominant society in Chile.

4.2.- Economic globalization and the contradictions of the governmental policy.

Nevertheless, the efforts made and progresses achieved in the implementation of the 1993 law, to which we have refered before, have been shadowed by the severe impacts that government economic policies oriented to the globalization of Chile's market have had on indigenous peoples throughout the country in recent years.⁽³²⁾

The emphasis placed by the current administration leaded by President Eduardo Frei, in openning Chiles' economy to international markets, orienting most of the economic activity to exportation, have resulted in the last years in the implementation of different development projects affecting their territories. Most of these developments are based upon the use and appropriation of indigenous lands, water, forests and other natural resources which are essential to indigenous material subsistence, and to which their cultures are deeply attached.

Unfortunately, due to the constraints that were imposed to indigenous demands during the debate of the law proposal before referred to, the existing legislation does not grant sufficient protection to the natural resources existing within indigenous lands, such as minerals, forests, waters, and marine resources.

This situation, together with the lack of consultation of communities which are being affected by the developments that are being implemented throughout their territories, and the insufficiency of the compensatory policies considered in them, have obviously caused concern among indigenous peoples' organizations, which have expressed their preoccupation regarding them.

It is important to mention that these developments, although primarily coming from the private sector, also involve State participation. This participation manifests both through the direct intervention of public agencies in the implementation of activities such as mining, in the Aymara region, or the construction of highways in the Mapuhe territory, and through the authorization and support given to their implementation by government agencies such as the National Commission on Energy (CNE), the National Commission on Environment (CONAMA), or the National Corporation of Forestry (CONAF).

4.2.1. The Mapuche case.

Due to their demographic and political significance in the country, I will focus on how this context of economic globalization has been affecting the Mapuche people and its communities, making in practice ineffective with regards to them the protection that was established by law in 1993.

Some information may be useful to illustrate the way in which market economy has been expanding into the traditional Mapuche territory, which is one of the richest in the country, both in terms of its natural resources and of its potential as tourist area. By 1996, 1.357 mining exploration or exploitation concessions had been granted by the State to national and international enterprises. Of these concessions, 104 of them were located within indigenous lands. By that same year, an important number of aquaculture concessions, most of them for salmon farming purposes, including almost all the lakes and ocean shores existing in the Mapuche territory, had been authorized by governmental agencies. Up to the same year, approximately 75 percent of the water rights available in the same territory (regions of Bio Bio, Araucania and Los lagos), had been given by the State to those who requested them. Only two percent of this rights were in the hands of the Mapuche.⁽³³⁾

Some specific cases that should be highlighted in order to exemplify the impacts that these developments are producing within the Mapuche territory, are the following:

a. The Bio Bio Hydrodams.

In the sixties, ENDESA (National Energy Enterprise), planned the construction of a series of hydroelectric dams in the upper basin of the Bio Bio river in southern Chile, in an area which constitutes the ancestral homeland of the Pehuenche, a branch of the Mapuche with a population of five thousand.

Not withstanding the opposition coming from the seven Pehuenche communities living there, the construction of the first dam planned, Pangue, was finished by ENDESA, now a privately owned company, in 1996. The lack of environmental and indigenous protection laws at the time of its approval at the beginning of the nineties, and the reduced number of families to be rellocated by this project, are arguments which may help to explain why this project was finally materialized.

In 1994, ENDESA announced the construction of a second dam in the area, Ralco, which due to its dimensions (3.500 hectares of land), would imply the rellocation of aproximately 100 hundred pehuenche families living in two of the seven Pehuenche communities (Ralco Lepoy and Quepuca Ralco), including aproximately 500 people.

The Pehuenche people strongly opposed the construction of this second dam, which they saw as a threat to the subsistance of their traditional economy, closely linked to their habitat and the diverse resoures existing there ( forests, waters, pastures, etc), as well as to their cultural survival. ⁽³⁴⁾

Not withstanding this opposition, and the fact that the environmental impact assesment study regarding the social and cultural impacts of Ralco was rejected by twenty government agencies, including CONADI, due to its negative impacts on the present and future lives of the Pehuenche, the government decided last year to authorize ENDESA's plan. The main argument given by the government in support of its decision , was the need of Ralco to satisfy the growing demands of energy coming from the industrialization process which has been taking place throughout the country, and especially those needs associated to the development of the forest industry in the region of Bio Bio where these dams are being constructed.

According to indigenous law, nevertheless, the Pehuenche lands, which are considered to be indigenous, cannot be sold to non indigenous, but only exchanged for other lands of the same quality and equivalent price. This exchange has to be made not only with the agreement of those parties directly involved, but also with the consent of CONADI, which is legally mandated to protect indigenous lands. The National Council of this entity declared in 1997 that it would not give authorization for the exchange of Pehuenche lands, due to the impact that this project would have on the Pehuenche population.

Nevertheless, ENDESA has continued with its plans in the area, and is currently building a road to access the dam site. According to recent information, ENDESA has been able to turn around the will of many families who initially opposed this project, due to employment and housing offerings that have been made to them. ⁽³⁵⁾

Everything indicates then that the opinion of the peoples' affected will not be respected, and that ENDESA, with the support of the government will continue the implementation of Ralco, a project which is seen by many indigenous and non indigenous as a symbol of the type of development that Chile is adopting.

b. The expansion of the forest industry into Mapuche territory.

Forestry has experienced an enormous growth in Chile in the last years. Orienting its activity to the production of timber, wood chips and paper, mainly for external markets, this industry has been expanding during the last years south, into the Mapuche territory.

After the agrarian reform developed during the sixties and the early seventies was finished, this industry started acquiring by different means huge tracts of lands in southern Chile which were, and continue to be, claimed by the Mapuche. ⁽³⁶⁾

Most of these lands, which estimated in several hundred thousand hectares, have been planted with exotic species of fast growth, mainly radiata pine and eucalypts, by the companies who now own them. ⁽³⁷⁾ In practise, these plantations are surrounding many Mapuche communities that continue to exist in the area. This has resulted in important changes not only in the landscape, but also in the soil, which has been seriously damaged due to erosion and the impacts of trees resin. The same plantations have affected the water fountains before existing, most of which have dried due to their absortion by the new plantations. Finally, these plantations have seriously affected the labour possibilities of the Mapuche in the area, due to their lack of expertise in forestry activities.

Due to this situation, many communities demanded CONADI to acquire the lands they claim to belong to them through the land fund. Nevertheless, because of the limited resources existing in this fund created by the 1993 law, many of these demands have not been satisfied by this government agency.

After years waiting for a solution without response, many communities affected by this industry, have started taking other actions seeking for justice. Since October last year until February 1998, several direct actions have been implemented by Mapuche organizations against forest companies that in different ways are affecting their lives.

Last October, a group of Mapuche families occupied lands which are currently being developed by Forestal Arauco, Miminco and Millalemu in the county of Lumaco, demanding their restitution.⁽³⁸⁾

Several of the participants were detained by the police. Later, in December of the same year, a group of unemployed Mapuche youngsters, were accused of burning several trucks loaded with trees belonging to the same companies, again in Lumaco.⁽³⁹⁾ Later in January of this year, several Mapuche communities in the Province of Arauco occupied lands which they claim to belong to them which are currently being developed by logging companies.⁽⁴⁰⁾ The last action implemented by the Mapuche was the occupation for almost ten days of El Rincon (Loncoyan Grande) in the county of Puren, a farm currently owned by Forestal Mininco, one of the biggest private companies present in the Mapuche territory.

The explosiveness of these actions is a demonstration of the desperate situation of the communities affected by these developments. During the last months, the reactions coming from the government have been contradictory. Meanwhile CONADI has been trying to negotiate the acquisition of these lands for those families who legitimately claim them, the national government has continued to use all the tools existing on its hands, including repression, to impede the continuation of actions which it fears may damage property and investment in the area.

The different attitude taken by CONADI and by the central government with regards to these conflicts, are demonstrative of the internal conflicts existing in the government coalition on how to deal with indigenous peoples' within the country.

c. The construction of highways in the same territory.

The developments affecting Mapuche territory do not only come from the private sector, but also from the State. Similar to what has been happening in other developing countries, the current administration, due to the expansion of the economy, has been working in the last years in the construction of new roads, as well as in improvement of those that already existed, in areas where natural resources are located.

These ideas have led the Ministry of Public Works to plan the construction of two highways crossing the heart of the Mapuche territory. The first one, called the Coastal Highway, with a total of 949 kilometers, is being constructed along the Pacific coast in southern Chile, from the region of Bio Bio to the region of Los Lagos. Built by the Ministry of Public Work together with the Chilean army, it crosses through densely populated Mapuche territories, such as those of lake Budi in the Araucania, where the Mapuche Lafquenche live, and San Juan de la Costa in Los Lagos, where the Mapuche Huilliche live.

The obvious purpose of this road, is to provide a means for the extraction of the timber which exist in that area, one of the few areas of remaining native forest which yet have not been exploited by logging companies.

The second project deals with the construction of a new fast highway going from Santiago to Puerto Montt, whith more than a thousand kilometres long, whose construction, according to the government plan, will be leased to the private sector. More specifically, this project will include an extension of 20 kilometres long and 40 meters wide, parallel to the city of Temuco in the Araucania region, which will affect four mapuche communities including 48 families. The highway will cross an area which currently is occupied by houses, agricultural lands and sites of historical and cultural significance for the Mapuche. It will also result in the division of communities into two separate units separated by its construction. ⁽⁴¹⁾

Aside of the fact that the two projects here referred to are of State responsibility, both of them also have in common the fact that indigenous communities were not informed of them until very recently, when the construction of these highways was seen as inevitable. People affected were never consulted by the government in pervious stages of these projects, when they were in the process of being discussed. Moreover, in the case of the Coastal highway, the communities living in the surroundings of lake Budi area, recently declared Area of Indigenous Development according to the 1993 legislation, were only informed of this initiative when its construction was almost arriving to their territory, and their lands were being marked for this purpose.

As it is not difficult to imagine, the reaction of the Mapuche against these developments has been of surprise and anger. Especially in the case of the Temuco By Pass, committees and other organizations have been created in opposition to this project, and later, when the project was seen as inevitable, to negotiate an adequate compensation. The terms of this compensation are still unknown. What is certain is that the government will not renounce to its expansion plans into the Mapuche territory.

FINAL COMMENTS.

As seen throughout this paper, the Mapuche people are deeply preoccupied by the projects which are taking place, with governmental support, and without their consent, within their traditional territories.

For many of them, who participated in the Nueva Imperial Agreement, supported the efforts to restore democracy in the country, and who have actively been involved through CONADI, a government agency, in the implementation of the rights contained in the 1993 law, it is difficult to understand why the current administration is supporting these developments, notwithstanding their open opposition.

From an indigenous perspective, the policies which are currently promoted by the government, affecting their lands and natural resources, without their consultation, constitute a violation of the Nueva Imperial Agreement. According to indigenous traditions, agreements are to be honoured, and the current administration is not doing so.

The speed at which these developments have been expanding into Mapuche territories, as well as their dimensions, have led some indigenous organizations to consider this process as a "second occupation" of the Araucania, comparing it with that which took place last century when the Chilean State occupied it militarily for the first time .⁽⁴²⁾

Even CONADI's National Council and direction has manifested its public concern and opposition, this last attitude in the case of Ralco, with regards to these developments, due to the threat they impose to indigenous lands, which, in accordance with the law, they are mandated to protect.⁽⁴³⁾

This situation led the Frei administration in 1997 to introduce important changes in CONADI, replacing its National Director by a new one which the government hoped would be more submissive to the policies which it has been supporting in the Mapuche territory.⁽⁴⁴⁾

More recently, in November of 1997, the Mapuche National Congress, with the participation of 500 hundred delegates from all over the country, made public their opposition to the development projects before referred to and others, due to their environmental, social and cultural impacts on communities. The resolutions of this Congress stated that those projects put in danger the relationship of their people with their lands, waters, and resources in general, threatening their subsistence and identity.

Aside from demanding the modification of the legal framework existing, including water code and others laws, in order to ensure that these relationship is protected, they make an explicit reference to the process of economic globalization that has been promoted by the government, affirming that it constitutes a risk for indigenous peoples, threatening the basic agreements reached between their people and the Chilean society (referring to the Nueva Imperial Agreement).

Finally they affirm that the neoliberal policies applied by the Chilean state have strongly affected the economic, social and cultural situation of their people, resulting in their marginalization, as well as in profound social inequities with regards to them.⁽⁴⁵⁾

In the last months, Mapuche organizations, frustrated and angry with the governmental inaction, or otherwise support of the developments before referred to, have decided to implement a different strategy in the defense of their lands and territories, blocking roads, and occupying the lands which they claim belong to them which are being used or affected by the developments before described. Notwithsatnding the governmental repression of these actions, considered to be illegal by authorities, indigenous organizations are decided to defend what they consider to belong to their people by any means.

It has become evident that the era of the Nueva Imperial Agreement has ended, and that probably a new era of conflict among indigenous peoples' and the government, resembling that lived during the military regime, will begin. This, unless the government understands that economic globalization cannot be implemented sacrificing indigenous peoples and their territories, and unless serious efforts are made by current authorities to cease these developments, or at least establish adequate consultation provisions before they take place.

It is unlikely also that indigenous mistrust of Chilean society will cease until the legislature agrees to incorporate both at the legal and constitutional level, the protection of indigenous rights over the natural resources existing within their lands and territories, which was left outside of the law when debated by Congress in the early nineties. The same applies to the recognition of their right to decide their own priorities in relation to their lives an development within their territories, a right acknowledged in the Convention 169 of the ILO, as well as in other international instruments dealing with these peoples.

Finally, and more important, it is unlikely that the situation here described affecting indigenous peoples, in the context of the globalization of Chile economy will change in a substantial manner until the Chilean society in general shows more respect for the ethnic and cultural diversity they represent, one that has been hidden for centuries, and that many are still reluctant to accept.

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