Mapuche Resistance!

Mapuche Resistance!
Friday, 01 February 2008


http://www.larazaunida.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=761&Itemid=42

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: RodStarz 646.250.4405

Confrontation in front of Chilean Consulate in support of convicted Chilean 'terrorist' Patricia Troncoso; protesters demand her release and acknowledgement by the Chilean government of Mapuche peoples ancestral rights.

Yesterday marked the end of a 110-day hunger strike by convicted Chilean 'terrorist' Patricia Troncoso, a well known pro-Mapuche rights activist. Until now, the Chilean government, led by President Michelle Bachelet, has virtually ignored Troncoso's protest, responding with silence to her and the Mapuche natives' demands.

Today, January 29, 2008, Hip Hop collective Rebel Diaz- along with community organizations La Pena Del Bronx, and the Mapuche Internacional Solidarity Network- are gathering at the Chilean Consulate to express our support for Patricia Troncoso and her struggle for Mapuche human rights. Although the Chilean government has finally agreed to negotiate with Ms. Troncoso, it is imperative they enter all dialogue ready to fulfill the demands of the Mapuche nation, who for hundreds of years have suffered political repression, militarization of ancestral lands, and increased economic marginalization at the hands of the Chilean and Argentinian governments.

As students, artists, activists, immigrants, and workers, we are delivering letters and gathering at the Chilean consulate to demand that Michelle Bachelet and the Chilean Governmentin fulfill the following demands set forth by Patricia Troncoso and the Mapuche Nation:

That the Chilean government repeal Anti-Terrorist laws enacted during the Pinochet regime, which serve as tools of political repression against Mapuche activists by restricting free speech and other forms of dissent. Free those Mapuche activists convicted under these unjust laws!§
That the Chilean government demilitarize all Mapuche ancestral lands, and stop perpetuating genocidal policies against the Mapuche people through military and police brutality, murders, and other human rights violations.§
That the Chilean government assume responsibility in solving the murders of pro Mapuche rights activists Alex Lemus and Matias Catrileo.§
That the Chilean government make good on their historical debt to the Mapuche people by engaging in bilateral dialogue as one sovereign nation to another, not with repression and paternalism as they have in the past.§

Statement from native Mapuche Danko Mariman who came from Boston to join the march today:

"The activism and resistance of the Mapuche people are not acts of terrorism. The real terrorism is the neoliberal economic model imposed by the Chilean governement since the Pinochet regime, which has allowed environmental devastation of Mapuche ancestral lands, displacement of Mapuche people in favor of foreign corporate interests, and non-acknowledgement of the sovereignty of the Mapuche people. In the spirit of true democracy and pluralism, we must demand that the Mapuche and other native peoples of the Americas be acknowledged as a soveriegn people and treated as such in inter-American nation-state dialogue."

Statement from Rodstarz of the Hip Hop collective Rebel Diaz:

"Today we make a calling for solidarity with the Mapuche people amongst activists in the Unites States and across the world. The same neo-liberal economic policies that marginalize and displace our Mapuche brothers and sisters in Latin America also affect us as young people of color in New York City. Young gang members are convicted under federal Anti-Terrorism laws as opposed to be being rehabilitated and granted access to real life opportunities; families lose their homes in the Bronx as gentrification pushes rent and property tax sky high; police disproportionately target, harass, brutalize, and murder black and brown youth. As representatives of the Hip Hop generation, we support the Mapuche in their struggle for the human right to live and prosper as a sovereign people."

This gathering is for Patricia Troncoso, our Mapuche brothers and sisters, for our land, and for our lives!


SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS

Mapuche International Solidarity Network
Hip-Hop collective Rebel Diaz
Movimiento La Pena del Bronx
Comité Permanente por Chile- Chicago
Colectivo Miguel Enriquez
Colectiveo Joaquin Murieta
Miristas Chilenos y Latino Americanos
Pueblo Afroamericano-Latino
Mapuche Internacional Solidarity Network

New York, NY 01/29/08 12:36am

CONTACT: Rodstarz 646.250.4405