This is Popular Front, a podcast focused on the niche details of modern warfare and underreported conflict with me Jake Hanrahan. Today we're speaking to Chilean filmmaker Pablo Sayers.

He's going to be talking to us about the clashes in the south of Chile where the indigenous Mapuche people are

under threat from the state and logging companies. Recently some Mapuche was shot at one man was

killed and the Mapuche was shot at one man was killed and the Mapuche

released this video basically showing a Mapuche militia. The country is now

kind of under a state of emergency due to this situation due to the clashes in the forests

Pablo's going to explain to us what's happening. If you like what we're doing

please support us at patreon.com slash popular Front.

Right now there's this kind of escalated conflict with the Mapuche indigenous people in the south of Chile.

Maybe just explain to us before we go into the conflict like who are the Mapuche?

Well the Mapuche is like one of the biggest indigenous people of Tille. I think like half of the population are mixed blood Mapute and they have like I think 2 million people who

recognize themselves of Mapuche culturally and socially.

And the Mapuche, they are very proud because it was one of the few I think two indigenous people of South America that defeated the Spanish so the Spanish the the rain of the chile that the reign of the Chile, the time of the Spanish conquest, ended up with the territory of the Mapuche and the Spanish crown had to recognize this mapuche territory as another nation.

That's I think they did that only in the 500 year in the 400 year they had the South American

and as a colony. I think they did that only with two indigenous people.

But after that during the Chilean independence,

also a lot of Mapuche fought in both sides of the independence.

So the nascent Chilean state also recognized a lot of territories as Mapuche

territorial. It wasn't until 1879 I think or 18 well late 19th century that the Chilean state attacked and conquests the Mapuche territory.

They kind of lived in harmony for a bit right? Yeah yeah for hundreds of years.

Yeah yeah yeah.

And there were troubles in the frontier,

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