Now it is Chile's turn.
Pinera will likely be pissed off that the U.S. Embassy made fun of him for saying "Araucania is in flames."
This cable from U.S. Embassy is a good roundup of the Mapuche claims for their ancestral lands in southern Chile. It blames the Chilean press for overstating the conflict. The AP, Reuters and other media then picked up the sensational reporting and spread it worldwide.
"Guerrilla tourism" :rofl:
Poloffs = embassy political officers
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Classified By: A/DCM Laurie Weitzenkorn for reason 1.4 (B).
1. (C) Summary: Despite sensationalist press coverage and a
popular image of bloody conflict in Chile's southern Mapuche
heartland, poloffs found that relations between indigenous
and non-indigenous communities were largely non-violent, if
often tense and distrustful. Three people -- all Mapuche
activists -- have died in the so-called Mapuche conflict over
the past ten years. Arson, vandalism, and peaceful protests
and non-violent activism have been far more common.
Opposition politicians have alleged links between the Mapuche
and foreign terrorist organizations FARC and ETA, but
government officials downplay these connections as mere
"guerrilla tourism." End Summary.
3. (SBU) A casual observer of Chilean news coverage could be
forgiven for thinking that violent Mapuche activists with
strong and active links to the FARC and ETA are killing
innocent civilians each week in the so-called "Mapuche
conflict." Opposition presidential candidate Sebastian
Pinera has declared that "Araucania is in flames." Chile's
major newspapers, which are generally conservative in their
political outlook, frequently run reports of conflict related
to indigenous concerns prominently on the front page.
Destruction of property -- which accounts for the vast
majority of all illegal Mapuche action -- is often displayed
in full color and with bold headlines, sometimes beating out
coverage of more severe crimes committed by non-indigenous
Chileans. Moreover, positive or less incendiary news from
indigenous communities -- resolution of localized conflicts,
peaceful protests, meetings, or other actions taken to
address Mapuche political concerns -- are often not covered
at all.
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/Cable/embajador/EE/UU/Chile/critica/candidato/opositor/Sebastian/Pinera/elpepuint/20101213elpepuint_11/Tes -----------------------