Criminalization and judicialization of indigenous peoples’ rights in Chile

In the twentieth century, neighboring countries such as Argentina, which was dedicated to liberalism, denied all rights to indigenous peoples based on the principle of equality. The policy of purchasing land was presented as addressing these challenges. However, at the same time, various programs and legal measures were implemented that would lead to the “proper development” of these indigenous populations and their territory, and as a result, to their better integration into the country’s economy. Although set in motion from the time of Independence, the main dispossession of Mapuche lands did not take place until indigenous territories were conquered militarily in the second half of the nineteenth century. The end of the Chilean dictatorship coincided with the period during which the rights of indigenous peoples came to the fore at international and regional levels, energized by the adoption of C169 in 1989.