CMPC Chairman Luis Felipe Gazitúa: “As long as Chile fails to realize that there is a widespread problem with security and violence in the Araucanía Region and continues to think that this only has to do with the Mapuche problem, there won’t be any solution.”

Today the CMPC Companies Chairman discussed the the acts of violence afflicting the area. He stated that organized criminal gangs who steal timber and vehicles as well as traffic drugs are the biggest problem in the region right now. He also said that the company is willing to transfer land, which may be hard for the industry, but it would mean they are helping resolve part of the conflict.

Santiago, October 14.- “This is like a river with no banks that has been ceaselessly overflowing for a long time.” This is how CMPC Chairman Luis Felipe Gazitúa described the situation in the Araucanía Region. In an interview with T113 Radio, Gazitúa referred to the acts of violence afflicting the southern macrozone, the signals that the Government has given in this regard, and the complex solutions needed for handling a problem that he described as “global” with numerous aspects to be resolved.

The company chairman said that the main problem is that, “Today in the Region of Araucanía and the Province of Arauco, there are entrenched organized crime gangs dedicated to drug trafficking, and stealing vehicles and timber while hiding behind the Mapuche cause.” Gazitúa added, “We also have a poverty problem. The Araucanía Region has eight of the ten poorest districts in all of Chile. We have a problem with recognition of the dignity of indigenous peoples (…) That’s what I mean when I say this is a more global problem: it’s political, it’s economic development and it’s about land.”

Gazitúa emphatically stressed that there is no awareness in the capital city of the true nature of the violence going on in the area. He explained that the business of timber theft generates between 50 and 100 million dollars a year, an activity that means profit for many people and also funds radical groups. “As long as Chile fails to realize that there is a widespread problem with security and violence in the Araucanía Region and continues to think that this only has to do with the Mapuche problem, there won’t be any solution.”

Likewise, Gazitúa pointed out that the forestry industry has been operating in the region for 50 years and employs more than 300,000 people. Therefore, he pointed out that it must also – and can – be part of the solution.

The executive explained that they have not had any talks with the Government since May, but that they value the gestures made by the new Minister of the Interior, Carolina Tohá, and the Minister Secretary General of the Presidency, Ana Lya Uriarte. We are willing to be part of the solution and we understand that this means accessing the requests made through Conadi for land that is part of our property,” he said, pointing out that these requests total between 10% and 15% of the land requested by Mapuche communities. “The rest is not forest land. The rest is agricultural land that the Mapuche world wants for farming,” he said.

Additionally, he added that the company understands it will have to make land transfers that are challenging for the industry, but that are valuable for the region, “But the way we look at it is that this will help solve a serious problem in Chile. And that means making painful decisions,” he said.

About the new constitution

Gazitúa said that if CMPC only had general analyses, they would only have a partial vision of what is happening in the Araucanía. That is why he frequently visits different communities to learn first-hand about their lived reality. His last trip was two weeks ago during which he met with more than 70 people from Arauco, Contulmo and Cañete. Mayors, Mapuche community members, students, neighborhood committee presidents and different people from the community talked with Gazitúa about the problems they experience every day. On this occasion they addressed the results of the plebiscite and the need for a new constitution as well as several other topics.

Regarding the results of the plebiscite, Luis Felipe Gazitúa emphasized that districts with a large Mapuche population had an 80% rejection rate with very high voter turnout. In light of this situation, the director explained that, “In the Mapuche world people feel they are Chileans first and then Mapuche. A Mapuche community member told me, ‘When the Chilean team heads out on the pitch, I get goosebumps just like you do.”

“No one doubts that a new constitution is required,” he said, but added that, “People want clarity around this process. The predicament is not in the new constitution (…) What people want is for the State of Chile to take charge of the problem that exists in the Araucanía.”

In that sense, Gazitúa said that CMPC is very happy that Undersecretary Manuel Monsalve is permanently in the region. “That shows that he is aware that the problem of violence and crime is very serious and requires complex solutions,” he said.