Photo courtesy of Cosecha Roja. All rights reserved. This article is being published as part of the partnership between Cosecha Roja and democraciaAbierta. You can read the original article here.
The Mapuche have long been the object of political extortion in Argentina. They are asked to either deny their history and conform to the national identity corset, or be considered internal enemies. The price of the Argentine legal hospitality is oblivion and historical renunciation. For those who look at it through the civil code, the Mapuche conflict is a real estate problem. For those who look at it through the criminal code, it is a criminal issue. Both perspectives – this is an old trick – aim at turning social conflicts into legal disputes, at emptying politics out of politics, so as to keep on de-historizing social unrest.
The Mapuche are to be considered Argentine citizens as long as they do not question the legal system that makes them invisible. Otherwise, they risk finding themselves outside the law and being labeled as activists or, worse still, identified as terrorists.
