Julia Chuñir Catricura (Mapuche), 72 years old, disappeared in strange circumstances on November 8, 2024, in the Máfil sector, Los Ríos region in southern Chile, after going out to look for her animals in the hills with her dog around noon on the Lafrir farm.

Chuñir is a mother and grandmother who has fought all her life for the defense of the Mapuche territory and the care of local forests. She is a leader and president of the Mapuche Putreguel Community, which is currently defending its territory and forest threatened by the plantation of monocultures.

The recognition of Indigenous Peoples in Chile is only established in the law and not in the constitution, making it the only South American country that does not recognize Indigenous Peoples constitutionally.

Chile is the only country in South America that does not recognize Indigenous Peoples in its constitution, so it should not be a surprise that it has failed to adequately align its national legislation with international standards for the protection of their rights. One of its most evident failures has been the absence of respect for the right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of Indigenous Peoples living in lithium mining and exploration areas.

We are a radio group composed of Mapuche Lafkenche from Budi, Chile, an ancestral territory located in the ninth region of the Araucanía, a Wallmapu (traditional territory of the Mapuche people). We are Indigenous farmers and subsist on raising small-scale livestock. We are adult speakers of the Mapuche language. We are an autonomous media, self-financed mainly by the communities we serve.

In the Atacama Desert in the north of Chile, the mountains turn purple at sunset, and when the sky is dark, a shooting star can be traced across the entire arc of the night sky.

In the COP 27 Indigenous Peoples Pavilion, Lesley Muñoz Rivera (Colla) will speak about how the so-called "white gold" industry affects community life and biodiversity in the Andean salt flats and wetlands, violating the right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent of Indigenous Peoples, and making it impossible to develop subsistence economies, such as agriculture or tourism.

En español

By Nathalie Martínez (CS Intern)

In English

Por Nathalie Martínez (CS Intern)