Abstract

DONOSO JIMENEZ, Javiera. POLITICAL VIOLENCE IN CHILE BETWEEN THE MAPUCHE NATION AND PRESIDENT RICARDO LAGOS' GOVERNMENT. rev.relac.int.estrateg.segur. [online]. 2013, vol.8, n.2, pp.63-93. ISSN 1909-3063.

The return of the socialist left to the Palacio de la Moneda in Chile brought the hope that democracy would at last be consolidated in Chile. However, the repressive and violent character of the Chilean State persisted and endured as a mechanism of social control. During Ricardo Lagos'government, the social protest of the Mapuche was repressed, persecuted and criminalized, using as argument the need for protection to political governability and to the democratic institutions. The methodology we used is based on the review of newspaper articles that report the episodes of violence from the Mapuche and from the Chilean State; this information allowed us to compare the intensity of violence between both parties. The most significant results we found, were that the Chilean State maintains control and monopoly of violence in the country, and the repressive State violence always surpasses that of the Mapuche. The criminalization of the Mapuche protest is efficient and effective thanks to the reforms on the judicial system, which allows judging and incarcerating the people in conflict under a treatment given to terrorists.

Keywords : Ricardo Lagos' government; political violence; state repression; social protest; Mapuche nation.

        · abstract in Spanish | Portuguese     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )