We publish an article that was sent to us by comrades from Chile:
PUBLIC DECLARATION OF VICTOR LLANQUILEO PILQUIMAN. MAPUCHE POLITICAL PRISONER SENTENCED TO 21 YEARS IN JAIL
“I, Victor Adelino Llanquileo Pilquiman, Mapuche political prisoner from Angol prison. Through this document I address my beloved Mapuche people and to all the expressions of struggle that have arisen today in different territories.
And I want to send a special greeting and strong hugs to my peñi1 from the Lafken Mapu2 who are today under the threat of the government, mainly from the forestry business and the State of Chile as a whole. Threat that consists of taking out the army to face the legitimate demand to recover the territory.
To state that on April 9, 2020, the last resort that could annul the trial in which the State of Chile decided to sentence me to 21 years in prison, a political sentence imposed by the Home Office in conjunction with the economic power of Chile, and the Public Prosecutor's Office with the permission and insistence of the macabre prosecutor Armendáriz, was rejected. I would like to point out that the trial was a complete spectacle in which we, as poor Mapuche, have no right to a defence, when those who defend us belong to the same State that persecutes and condemns us, responding to the same corrupt and negligent line that has become exposed.
Sentence that is imposed on me for stemming and being a child of the Lafken Mapu struggle and the fight area particularly. This is an area where for years a political solution has been sought to the problem of land, which are the forestry companies, that for so many years has led our people to live in poverty conditions. This is not a new issue in the area.
Long time ago it has been proposed to the different governments with based, in many cases with some documents, for explain to them that the occupation of the territories by the CMPC3 forest company and other groups is an armed robbery with the State of Chile as an accomplice. For years we have been robbed, and today they are accusing us, Mapuche people, of thieves.
It seems that with the sound of the guns you can hear the shout of the communities. Today the State says that it will bring out the army to repress the demands, but we responsibly say to the political representatives to analyze well the costs that this means. The experiences that exist in the Latin American countries that have opted for this way, have shown the costs that it brings, because this may just be the tip of a bigger problem, not just in Mapuche territory. These things we know how they begin and when this happens there is no return. I say this as a person who knows the background of the problem because I was born and raised in that area.
With this it is demonstrated that we have not lost the path traced by our ancestors to give content to life; being consequent, not betraying; being aware that we are men with virtues and defects in a society of inequality, injustice and corruption, but we also have the great opportunity to live, to fight, and build a just society.
And knowing the foundations on which this territorial, cultural, economic, political and religious demand is based, I sincerely believe in the people of my village, mainly in the weichafe4 who will not hesitate to sacrifice themselves to defend the land that saw us born.
Neither death nor jail will stop the transformation processes, until the Mapuche national reconstruction is achieved.
FREEDOM TO ALL THE MAPUCHE POLITICAL PRISONERS AND ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS
AMULEPE TAIN WEICHAN5
MARRICHIWEW6”
Translated by "Translators and interpreters at the service of the people" from the Spanish to the English. The footnotes are from Periódico El Pueblo to facilitate interpretation by readers outside of Wallmapu and Chile.
1 Peñi means “brother” in mapudungun, the language of Mapuche people.
2 Lafken mapu means “territory of the inhabitants of the sea or large lagoon”. It is currently inhabited by the Mapuche Lafkenche on the coast and Cordillera de la Costa of the Biobío, La Araucanía and Los Ríos regions.
3 CMPC are the Spanish initials of “Paper and Cardboard Manufacturing Company”, owned by the Matte family.
4 Weichafe means “warrior”.
5 Amulepe tain weichan means “let our fight continue”.
6 Marrichiwew means “ten times we will win”.
