By: Kayhan Int’l Staff Writer

The news from the South American country of Chile that an indigenous woman has been elected to a new assembly charged with drafting the national constitution is a step in the right direction after centuries of oppression of the Mapuche people by the ruling elite of Spanish ancestry.
Elisa Loncon, a 58-year Santiago university professor and activist of the Amer-Indian movement for the Mapuche People’s Educational and Linguistic rights, will draft a new text to replace Chile’s current constitution which is a product of 17-year reign of terror off General Augusto Pinochet – a CIA agent who overthrew the elected government of Salvador Allende in 1973.
As a matter of fact, memories of Pinochet continue to haunt most Chilean people who remember the tens of thousands of citizens disappeared and decimated on US orders.
Even after his exit from the political scene, Pinochet, who was protected by the American and Zionist spy agencies, continued to indirectly wield power over the hapless people of Chile through proxies serving as chief executives.
The current head of state, President Sebastian Pinera, is also viewed by the Chilean people as a US stooge, and it remains to be seen whether he would allow Elisa Loncon to draft a fair and all-representative constitution acceptable to the majority of citizens.
According to the latest figures, Amerindians make up almost forty percent of the Chilean population, while power wrests in the hands of the ‘white’ people of Spanish stock who reportedly account for 55 percent of all citizens.
The Mapuche people had bravely resisted the invasion of their land in the 16th century by the Spanish and even inflicted several defeats on the European invaders, until fire power subdued the lightly armed defenders who had only bows and arrows.
Chile gained independence from direct rule from Spain in 1817 because of the liberation campaign launched in the southern parts of South America by the Argentinean commander, Jose de San Martin.
Unfortunately, Chile soon found itself trapped in US hegemony, which is the main reason for the current widespread political and economic corruption.
The Chilean people resent US domination as well as the intrusion of the Israelis to plunder their country.
It is worth recalling that a couple of years ago, in the wake of victories in the West for the movement known as BDS or Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS), Valdivia, a in southern Chile, became the first city in all of Latin America to officially join the boycott against Israel for its apartheid policies, military occupation of the West Bank and illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip.
The measure adopted by Valdivia specifically declares the municipality as an “Apartheid Free Zone” and prohibits the city from working with any business that is linked to the Zionist entity.
The local BDS campaign that helped prompt Valdivia’s government to adopt the boycott was led by the Juventud Chileno-Árabe Por Palestina de Valdivia, JCAPV, which is comprised mostly of university students attending Austral University of Chile. Several politicians — including some members of the Chilean Senate, were also involved in the campaign.
In view of these developments, it is hoped that the indigenous people as well as the conscious white people of European ancestry, will facilitate the work of Elisa Loncon to draft a fair constitution acceptable to the majority of the Chilean people.