The construction of “Mapuche terrorism” in Chile (1997-2023) from a decolonial perspective and Critical Studies on Terrorism

Abstract

Since 1997, the conflict in the Chilean Araucanía region between the state and the Mapuche populations has intensified, resulting in the use of repressive and legal apparatus to arrest indigenous leaders, notably the use of the Anti-terrorism Law and the States Security Law. Given this scenario, this research questions: how was the discourse on terrorism in the Chilean Araucanía region constructed between 1997 and 2023?Using Critical Terrorism Studies (CTS) and a decolonial perpective, discourses and practices produced by official state agents (congressmen, ministers, and presidents), as well as agricultural societies and think tanks, in the construction of a supposed Mapuche threat are analyzes. It concludes that the definition of certain Mapuche organizations as terrorist demonstrates the maintenance, even in democratic regimes, of the treatment of populations seen as "barbaric" as "internal enemies". Analyzing the Mapuche issue from a decolonial analyzing the Mapuche issue from a decolonial analytical perspective and within the framework of Critical Terrorism Studies, it is possible to identify how security agendas — as well as the discourses and practices tha constitute them — are complex results of social and political constructions, articulated by actors who promote and implement them in a specific historical and social context.