Chilean government must respect the rights of the Mapuche people

• Viviana Viera

EuroLat Parliamentary Declaration in support of Mapuche People

PARLAMENTARIANS FROM DIFFERENT EUROPEAN AND LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES SIGNED A DECLARATION IN SUPPORT OF THE MAPUCHE PEOPLE DURING THE EUROLAT SUMMIT LAST WEEK IN CHILE.

12.02.2013

We, parliamentarians participating in the Euro–Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EuroLat), in Santiago de Chile, express our concern regarding the situation of the Mapuche people in Chile.

We are alarmed by the heavy militarization that is taking place in the Mapuche territories, as well as by the application of emergency laws and the anti-terrorism law, dating from the time of the dictatorship. The Mapuche people are suffering from forms of legal state terrorism, seeking to demobilize, depoliticize and punish the social movements that support the Mapuche cause.

It concerns us deeply that the response of the Chilean government to the legitimate demands of the Mapuche people to recover their ancestral territories, respect, autonomy and self-determination, is not taking place in the form of a dialogue, but in the form of criminalization and repression.

We urge the Chilean government to respect the rights of the Mapuche people, to recognize the rights of indigenous peoples as enshrined in ILO Convention 169, and to respond to the demands of the political prisoners on hunger strike, who are in a very critical condition at the moment.

Santiago de Chile, 25 January 2013

Gloria Oquelí, co-president of EuroLat, Honduras.
Jürgen Klute, Parlamento Europeo, Alemania.
Dr Rosinha, Parlasur, Brasil.
Ana Miranda, Parlamento Europeo, Galicia.
Guillermo Carmona, Parlasur, Argentina.
Willy Meyer, Co-Vice-presidente EuroLat, España.
José Bayardi, Parlasur, Uruguay.
Inês Zuber, Parlamento Europeo, Portugal.
Rodrigo Cabezas, Parlatino, Venezuela.
Vicente Garcés, Parlamento Europeo, España.
Dorindo Cortez, Co-Vice-presidente EuroLat, Panamá.
Raül Romeva i Rueda, Parlamento Europeo, Cataluña.
Gloria Flores, Parlandino, Colombia.
Andrés Perelló, Parlamento Europeo, España.
Tubal Paez, Parlatino, Cuba.
Hilaria Supa Huaman, Parlandino, Perú.
Jose Leonel Búcaro, presidente del Parlacen, Salvador.
Catherine Grèze, Parlamento Europeo, Francia.
Doreen Ibarra, Parlatino, Uruguay.
Blanca Coto Estrada, Parlacen, Salvador.
Jose Simpson, Parlacen, Panamá.
Saïd Zavala, Parlacen, Nicaragua.
Julio Salazar, Parlatino, Bolivia.
Roy Daza, Parlatino, Venezuela.
Diego Aquino Acosta, Parlacen, Republica Domincana.
William Hernández, Parlacen, Salvador.
Vicente Zeballos, Parlatino, Perú.
Maria Irigoyen, Parlamento Europeo, España.
Eduardo Encalada, Parlatino, Ecuador.
Alberto Adrianzén, Parlandino, Perú