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| Conquistadors tumble as indigenous Chileans tear down statues | Conquistadors tumble as indigenous Chileans tear down statues |
| (about 20 hours later) | |
| Mapuche protesters in south launch attacks on symbols of Spanish colonial rule and distant government in Santiago | Mapuche protesters in south launch attacks on symbols of Spanish colonial rule and distant government in Santiago |
| As peaceful protesters and rioters alike have thronged the streets of the Chilean capital of Santiago to protest against inequality and state repression, a string of no less symbolic blows has also been struck 650km (400 miles) to the south. | As peaceful protesters and rioters alike have thronged the streets of the Chilean capital of Santiago to protest against inequality and state repression, a string of no less symbolic blows has also been struck 650km (400 miles) to the south. |
| In the urban centre of Temuco, hooded demonstrators lassoed a statue of a 16th-century Spanish conquistador last week and yanked it to the ground. | In the urban centre of Temuco, hooded demonstrators lassoed a statue of a 16th-century Spanish conquistador last week and yanked it to the ground. |
| Cheering bystanders – many wearing the traditional ponchos and headbands of the indigenous Mapuche people – stamped on the bronze effigy of Pedro de Valdivia and hammered it with wooden staffs. | Cheering bystanders – many wearing the traditional ponchos and headbands of the indigenous Mapuche people – stamped on the bronze effigy of Pedro de Valdivia and hammered it with wooden staffs. |
| In the city of Concepción – which Valdivia found in 1550 – a crowd toppled another bust of the Spanish coloniser, impaled it on a spike, and barbecued it at the feet of a statue of his historical nemesis, the Mapuche chieftain Lautaro. | In the city of Concepción – which Valdivia found in 1550 – a crowd toppled another bust of the Spanish coloniser, impaled it on a spike, and barbecued it at the feet of a statue of his historical nemesis, the Mapuche chieftain Lautaro. |
| In the nearby town of Collipulli, a bronze of General Cornelio Saavedra – notorious for leading the bloody 19th-century “pacification” of the Mapuche heartland – suffered a similar fate. | In the nearby town of Collipulli, a bronze of General Cornelio Saavedra – notorious for leading the bloody 19th-century “pacification” of the Mapuche heartland – suffered a similar fate. |
| Most dramatically of all, a statue in Temuco of the Chilean military aviator Dagoberto Godoy (1893-1960) was decapitated, and his head hung from the arm of a statue of the Mapuche warrior Caupolicán – now also holding the Mapuche flag, or Wenufoye. | |
| The statues have been targeted amid the worst outbreak of political unrest in Chile since the end of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship, after what began as a protest over subway fares transformed into a nationwide uprising demanding dramatic changes to the country’s economic and political system. | The statues have been targeted amid the worst outbreak of political unrest in Chile since the end of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship, after what began as a protest over subway fares transformed into a nationwide uprising demanding dramatic changes to the country’s economic and political system. |
| The attacks on symbols of Spanish colonial rule have provoked a war of words recalling debates in the US over monuments to Confederate generals, or in the UK regarding prominent statues of slavers and imperialists. | The attacks on symbols of Spanish colonial rule have provoked a war of words recalling debates in the US over monuments to Confederate generals, or in the UK regarding prominent statues of slavers and imperialists. |
| Conservative Chilean commentators have branded them acts of vandalism and the work of “professional agitators”. Others describe an organic – if overexuberant – desire to challenge established historical narratives. | Conservative Chilean commentators have branded them acts of vandalism and the work of “professional agitators”. Others describe an organic – if overexuberant – desire to challenge established historical narratives. |
| “These are actions of a very potent symbolism, in rejecting an official version that has falsified and grossly airbrushed our history,” said Pedro Cayuqueo, a Mapuche writer and historian. “There’s something far deeper going on.” | “These are actions of a very potent symbolism, in rejecting an official version that has falsified and grossly airbrushed our history,” said Pedro Cayuqueo, a Mapuche writer and historian. “There’s something far deeper going on.” |
| The toppling of statues also reflects deep modern-day grievances felt by the Mapuche, who were absorbed into the Chilean state at gunpoint 150 years ago. | The toppling of statues also reflects deep modern-day grievances felt by the Mapuche, who were absorbed into the Chilean state at gunpoint 150 years ago. |
| Chile’s largest native people – comprising 10% of the national population of 17 million – has chafed under a far-off central government ever since. | Chile’s largest native people – comprising 10% of the national population of 17 million – has chafed under a far-off central government ever since. |
| Unequal land ownership, deforestation, pollution and limited political representation were entrenched by the brutal 1973-90 Pinochet regime. | Unequal land ownership, deforestation, pollution and limited political representation were entrenched by the brutal 1973-90 Pinochet regime. |
| “We Mapuche have been questioning the economic model and social contract inherited from the dictatorship since the day after the return to democracy,” Cayuqueo added. | “We Mapuche have been questioning the economic model and social contract inherited from the dictatorship since the day after the return to democracy,” Cayuqueo added. |
| This discontent regularly spills over into violence. Radical Mapuche groups have firebombed more than 900 targets, often ranches and timber trucks, since 2011, claiming 20 lives. | This discontent regularly spills over into violence. Radical Mapuche groups have firebombed more than 900 targets, often ranches and timber trucks, since 2011, claiming 20 lives. |
| Chile’s militarised police force, have killed about 15 Mapuche since 1990. The fatal police shooting of an unarmed Mapuche farmer named Camilo Catrillanca, a year ago – and the attempted cover-up that followed – provoked widespread, lingering fury. | Chile’s militarised police force, have killed about 15 Mapuche since 1990. The fatal police shooting of an unarmed Mapuche farmer named Camilo Catrillanca, a year ago – and the attempted cover-up that followed – provoked widespread, lingering fury. |
| Demonstrators in the capital have carried Catrillanca’s image and waved the Wenufoye, but it is unclear how much the average protester relates to indigenous issues. | Demonstrators in the capital have carried Catrillanca’s image and waved the Wenufoye, but it is unclear how much the average protester relates to indigenous issues. |
| “The Mapuche flag cannot only be seen as symbol in favour of the Mapuche cause,” said Kenneth Bunker, a Chilean political scientist, “but also as an anti-system emblem.” | “The Mapuche flag cannot only be seen as symbol in favour of the Mapuche cause,” said Kenneth Bunker, a Chilean political scientist, “but also as an anti-system emblem.” |
| Working-class Chileans share Mapuche scorn for a distant economic and political elite, but are mainly angered by low wages and pensions, poor public healthcare and high school fees, Bunker added. | Working-class Chileans share Mapuche scorn for a distant economic and political elite, but are mainly angered by low wages and pensions, poor public healthcare and high school fees, Bunker added. |
| Still, Mapuche activist groups – who marched together in Temuco last week – are hoping that near-unanimous support for rewriting Chile’s Pinochet-era constitution will provide a window of opportunity. | Still, Mapuche activist groups – who marched together in Temuco last week – are hoping that near-unanimous support for rewriting Chile’s Pinochet-era constitution will provide a window of opportunity. |
| Chief among their objectives is for Chile to become a “plurinational state” like neighbouring Bolivia, granting native peoples greater political autonomy, and their languages and customs official status. | Chief among their objectives is for Chile to become a “plurinational state” like neighbouring Bolivia, granting native peoples greater political autonomy, and their languages and customs official status. |
| Such demands are shared by smaller aboriginal groups like the Diaguita, an Andean desert people with some 90,000 self-identified descendants. Protesters in the northern city of La Serena likewise felled and burned a statue of the conquistador Francisco de Aguirre in late October, replacing it with an image of “Milanka”, a Diaguita woman. | Such demands are shared by smaller aboriginal groups like the Diaguita, an Andean desert people with some 90,000 self-identified descendants. Protesters in the northern city of La Serena likewise felled and burned a statue of the conquistador Francisco de Aguirre in late October, replacing it with an image of “Milanka”, a Diaguita woman. |
| • This article was amended on 6 November 2019. An earlier version incorrectly said that the decapitated head of a statue of the Chilean founding father Diego Portales was hung from the statue of Caupolicán. The head was from a statue of the military aviator Dagoberto Godoy. This has been corrected in the text and picture caption. |