A group of masked armed men calling themselves Mapuche Territory Resistance seized control of Malleco National Reserve [6] in Chile's La Araucanía region Oct. 9, occupying the administrative offices and releasing a video of the action in which they declare their readiness to resist "any violent act on the part of the State." The statement accused the Chilean Forestry Corporation (CONAF [7]), which runs the reserve, of "usurpation" of traditional Mapuche lands and opening them to timber exploitation. President Sebastian Piñera responded by lodging a criminal complaint against the occupiers and demanding their eviction.
On Oct. 10 a woman was killed at a protest in support of the Mapuche in Santiago, apparently hit in the head by a police tear-gas cannister. (MercoPress [10], EFE [11], T13 [8], Santiago)
Héctor Llaitul Carillanca, leader of the Arauco Malleco Coordinating Committee (CAM [12]), a militant organization pressing for restitution of traditional Mapuche lands, accused the government of "attacking the communities" that are in struggle "against big capital." (EFE [13])
