On Wednesday, November 2, Juan Carlos Reinao was in an office with the Minister of the Interior, Carolina Tohá, according to Palacio sources. A week later, on the 9th of the same month, he was again at La Moneda. The communal chief, however, did not want to confirm any of the encounters. People who know him point out that he has tried to handle the matter with complete secrecy.
During the presidential visit to La Araucanía, on Thursday, November 10 and Friday, November 11, President Gabriel Boric announced the creation of a Commission for Peace and Understanding, whose objective will be to propose deadlines and specific mechanisms for land restitution for the Mapuche communities. in the zone.
Reinao, a doctor, who has spent three terms as mayor of Renaico in La Araucanía —more than ten serving as a mediator between community members and La Moneda—, as well as president of the Association of Municipalities with a Mapuche Mayor, maintains that each community must define autonomously to those who will represent them in this instance.
-Representatives of groups such as the Coordinadora Arauco-Malleco (CAM) or the Mapuche Malleco Resistance (RMM) should be summoned to integrate the Commission for Peace and Understanding?
-Of course they should be invited, it is the responsibility of the State to sit down and talk with all the groups present in the territory. A historic solution that will last over time cannot be expected without the participation of these groups. This has been done by many countries that we look to as an example to solve this problem. I think we are at a turning point, where we cannot afford to exclude certain groups for thinking differently. Any solution should be as comprehensive and legitimate as possible.
-Who should be the other guests in this instance?
-That is something that the Government must define, and it is the responsibility of the President of the Republic. I hope it will be a commission that is as broad and knowledgeable as possible, with the presence of all the actors and leaders of the territory. I believe that each community should autonomously define its representatives.
-What diagnosis do you have of the President’s visit and his announcements in the area?
-At the moment they are just announcements, we hope that they will be transformed into concrete measures that we can evaluate in a while. Many governments on duty have announced more resources, but they are only reallocations from other budget items. Poverty and pain in the territory are still present.
– Do you think that it is a good diagnosis of a part of the conflict in La Araucanía when the President says that there are “organizations that use the Mapuche cause to disguise their illegal operations”? Referring to criminal groups that participate in the theft of wood and drug trafficking…
-That’s how it is. Unfortunately, there are criminal organizations that use the legitimate Mapuche cause to cover their actions outside the law. These groups, apart from harming society with their actions, are dirtying the historical demands and claims of a people who have always stood out for their willingness to parliament.
-You indicated last week that this government has “committed many mistakes” during the first eight months. In your opinion, which are the main ones?
-The rushed and unplanned visit of the former Minister of the Interior (Izkia Siches) to the commune of Ercilla, I think it was a bad way to start. As well as bad advisors and work teams willing to work in the area. People from Santiago are usually hired who have never been in the area and do not know the dynamics and problems in the territories.
– Do you think that the Minister of the Segpres, Ana Lya Uriarte (PS), and the presidential commissioner for La Araucanía, Víctor Ramos (CS), will be considered valid interlocutors for the representatives of the Mapuche people?
-I don’t know Víctor Ramos, therefore, I cannot comment on him. I do know Minister Uriarte and I have the best opinion of her. We hope they are actors with political ground to be able to act, since we have a long list of representatives appointed in recent years to deal with this problem that did not have any concrete results. But I believe that today the dialogue does not go through the people, it is a political decision of the will to advance on the part of the State, which we hope will be reflected in concrete measures.
-What do you think the government’s change in tone responds to – if there is one – when the President says that there are “terrorist acts” in La Araucanía?
-I imagine that it responds to a government strategy. But we hope that any change in tone or phrase will come hand in hand with concrete measures to solve the problems of security and poverty in this area.
-You assured that, although you do not represent the bulk of the Mapuche, you would be willing to mediate between the Government and groups like the CAM. What do you think your role will be from now on between the Mapuche people and the Boric government?
-All of us who exercise the role of authority in the area have the obligation to always be available to seek agreements and promote dialogue. It is our duty, especially in the context in which we find ourselves today. For my part, I have always tried to collaborate with all the governments on duty in search of generating bridges of dialogue between the actors in the territory.
