Coordinadora Arauco-Malleco

Coordinadora Arauco Malleco
LeadersHéctor Llaitul
Dates of operation1998–present
Active regionsLa Araucania Region and Bio Bio Region
Ideology
Allies Resistencia Ancestral Mapuche
Opponents

Coordinadora Arauco-Malleco (CAM) is a radical,[4] militant indigenous organization engaged in political violence in pursuit of attaining an autonomous Mapuche state in the territory they describe as Wallmapu.

Founded in 1998 in Tranaquepe, Chile, CAM arose from the revitalization of the Mapuche conflict that decade, motivated by the extreme poverty and discrimination[4] their ethnic group had to undergo for over a century, ever since the Occupation of Araucanía. CAM considers their own actions to be but fair self-defence amidst a struggle of national liberation,[5] and their politics combine Mapuche traditions, Western political thought and knowledge acquired through experience.[5]

CAM is responsible for several land occupations in the zones of Tirúa, Contulmo, Cañete and Temucuicui, and is known for resorting to arson[6] against logging trucks and rural estates operating or located within the territories they claim as their own. Although occasionally such attacks have affected civilians, they aim to damage the property of those who "have usurped their homeland". Most of their actions are carried out on the sly, but sometimes they have resulted in confrontations with the "Fuerzas Especiales" of Carabineros de Chile. CAM has also backed minor Mapuche communities in taking direct action against forest companies and landowners who exploit the region, by lending them paramilitary support – a way of exerting political pressure.[7]

On May 31, 2022, the Chamber of Deputies of Chile, with 66 votes in favor, 43 against and 13 abstentions, approved a resolution requesting the Chilean government to declare the CAM as an "illegal terrorist organization".[8]

  1. ^ Pizarro, Claudio (27 September 2017). "La última entrevista a Héctor Llaitul antes de ser detenido: "Este gobierno va a desarrollar una escalada represiva"". The Clinic Online. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  2. ^ González, Osvaldo (April 2002). ""La lucha mapuche es nacionalista, anticapitalista y revolucionaria"". Nodo50. Nuestra lucha es contra el sistema capitalista, es una lucha antiimperialista, antioligárquica, nacionalitaria y revolucionaria
  3. ^ González, Osvaldo (April 2002). ""La lucha mapuche es nacionalista, anticapitalista y revolucionaria"". Nodo50. Nuestra lucha por la independencia, por la autodeterminación es tomar el planteamiento histórico de nuestro pueblo para mantenerse y seguir siendo pueblo
  4. ^ a b Pineda, César Enrique (2012). "Dominación y emancipación en el pueblo mapuche. El pensamiento de la Coordinadora Arauco Malleco" [Domination and Emancipation in Mapuche people. The point of view of Coordinadora Arauco Malleco] (PDF). SudHistoria (in Spanish). 4.
  5. ^ a b Pineda, César Enrique (2012). "Dominación y emancipación en el pueblo mapuche. El pensamiento de la Coordinadora Arauco Malleco" [Domination and Emancipation in Mapuche people. The point of view of Coordinadora Arauco Malleco] (PDF). SudHistoria (in Spanish). 4.
  6. ^ "Coordinadora Arauco Malleco (CAM) se adjudica 6 ataques incendiarios en tres regiones del país". BioBioChile - La Red de Prensa Más Grande de Chile. 2020-01-23. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  7. ^ S.A.P, El Mercurio (2020-04-17). "RML, la organización que se adjudicó el último ataque en Tirúa, también está en la mira en La Araucanía | Emol.com". Emol (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  8. ^ Gómez, Rodrigo (2022-06-01). "Cámara de Diputados declara a la CAM y otras tres organizaciones radicales como "asociaciones ilícitas de carácter terrorista"". La Tercera (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-08-05.