Last June 23rd, in La Araucania region, 200 anti-riot police officers shot against 80 community leaders who had occupied lands, and injured several Mapuche people, among them two children.

According to information provided by the Andean Coordination of Indigenous Organizations (CAOI) and published in Mapuexpress news website, in the morning of Monday, July 23rd, the Ignacio Queipul Community occupied, in a peaceful way, unproductive lands that are now in the hands of a local businessman and landowner, Rene Urban.

However, in the afternoon, they were violently evicted by police officers who opened fire against the community and injured two children among other community leaders.

The Mapuche Territorial Alliance highlighted in a statement that the military police shot against the Temucuicui community who aimed to cultivate crops and raise cattle in their ancestral lands.

Fernanda Marillán, 12 years old, was shot with pellets on her back and legs and Jacinto Marin, 17 years old, was shot with pellets eight times on the left side of his head (photo). Twelve people were arrested, among them three underage community members. They were later released, except for Celia Coronado, who will be taken to court on Tuesday.

The photos of the injured children left the Chilean public opinion in a state of shock, according to the news website cooperative.cl. Mijael Carbone, spokesperson of the Mapuche Territorial Alliance, denounced that the Police shot the Mapuche people from a close range, injuring two children and others.

“These serious events are an example of the irrationality of the government. This will have consequences for the Mapuche people in other territories”, warned Carbone.

This took place in parallel to the “Security Summit” called by Chilean president Sebastián Piñera to address the “increasing violence and extremism” in La Araucania, according to Andres Chadwick, Chilean Secretary General of Government.