On January 7 the verdict regarding the police assassination of Mapuche leader Camilo Catrillanca was announced by the Oral Criminal Court of Angol, in the Araucana region of Southern Chile. His family however was not able to witness the convictions for themselves as the police at the very same time the verdict was announced launched this years first great offensive against the Mapuche, also arresting the father, the mother, the widow and the daughter of the Camilo on their way to court.
Camilo Catrillanca was shot on January 14, 2018, in what can only be called a fake-encounter. As part of a larger police invasion of about 400 police personnel into Mapuche territory the Jungle Commando of the Special Police Operations Group (Grupo de Operaciones Policiales Especiales – GOPE) saw Camilo driving a tractor next to a 15-year-old boy. 12 shots were fired by the police killing Camilo. To justify this killing the police subsequently engaged in an elaborate cover-up, claiming that Camilo would have been carrying arms and died in a confrontation. Hence the scope of the people now convicted also include the lawyer of GOPE, who – though not pulling the trigger – was an active figure in the cover-up. Camilo was a peasent and a student leader. His death in 2018 by the hands of police sparked a wave of protests across Chile that have now lead to the conviction of some of those involved.
In order not to let winning a legal battle – which in and of itself is a rare occasion in the face of all the extra-judicial killings of Mapuche committed by the police – send the wrong signals, the police scheduled a major police operation for the time of the announcement of the court. Hence, around 700 Carabineros and Investigations Police of Chile (Policia de Investigaciones de Chile – PDI) officers raided the communities of Pancho Curamil, Temucuicui, Huanaco Millao, Butaco, Chacaico and Dawulko with 60 armored vehicles and 4 helicopters under the pretext of an illegal arms and drugs search operation. In this operation, also the family of Camilo on their way to court was targeted with pictures showing the detention of the dead men’s mother, wife and small daughter.
Various local, municipal, regional, sectoral and state structures of Corriente del Pueblo Sol Rojo came together on January 10 in a number of assemblies in order to discuss the evaluation of their work in 2020 and adopt the Work Plan and the General Plan of Struggle for 2021. In a brief statement released to various local media, the comrades declare, that they will continue to reinforce the internal ideological and political tasks in order to strengthen the general process of class struggle from the perspective of the combative unity of the proletariat and the people. To give orientation in the upcoming work this year, following slogans were adopted:
“Flood the streets and squares of all Oaxaca with red flags!”
“Advance the route towards the national constitution of the People’s Front!”
On January 6, the Brasilian Center for Solidarity with the Peoples (Centro Brasileiro de Solidariedade aos Povos – CEBRASPO) and the Brasilian Association of Lawyers of the People (Associacao Brasileira dos Advogados do Povo – ABRAPO) hosted a remarkable panel on the violence directed against the peasants, indigenous and quilombolas in the State of Rondonia, Brazil. The event due to corona was held in a hybrid way, with some contributors participating in front of a small audience in Porto Velho, the capital of Rondonia, and other contributors and participants participating live or with per-recorded messages and speeches online. The large number of people’s organizations and individuals encompassing intellectuals, activists, lawyers – such as the Federal Attorny of Rondonia, professors from various universities and dedicated work groups, the Pastoral Land Commission and the League of Poor Peasants, to only name a few – discussed and informed on the situation of the various threatened communities and denounced the attacks against them by the cronies of the big landowners in Rondonia. At the end of the event, with clenched fists and holding posters from the Tiago dos Santos camp, the participants welcomed the resistance of peasants, indigenous people and quilombolas from all over the country.
During this event information was also forwarded on the current situation in the area of Canaa in the municipality of Ariquemes (Rondonia). In this area, located little more then 200 km away from Porto Velho, more then 100 families are currently preparing for resisting the eviction from their homes and fields. In the midst of the Corona Pandemic a special body for handling conflicting land claims in Porto Velho, siding once again with the interests of the big landowners, in a scandalous decision ordered their forced eviction, if necessary.
The families have resided and produced for 17 years in the Canaa area. To expel them in this arbitrary, unreasonable and unlawful way, those advocating the interests of the people are sure of, will not only greatly effect and harm the directly effected families but also will imbalance the local economy. While the self-proclaimed landowner until now never gave a damn about the land, the families not only produced agrarian products for themselves but also supplied the food markets in the neighboring cities with reasonable priced local food. As the police of Ariquemes is known to be one of the most violent in the state and one of the most ready to comply to such an arbitrary order, it stands to reason, that – as always – it will only be through organization and struggle that the people will be able to continue to live and work on the grounds on which they did so for the last 17 years.
