On January 20, the bad Chilean judicial system has sentenced to 7 years in prison the werkén Rafael Pichún, accused of masterminding an alleged fire in a truck, in a new ruling that shows the permanent criminalization of the Mapuche struggle.
Along with this sentence, the rest of the lamien were sentenced to 15 years in prison, disproportionate sentences that not only punish individuals, but also seek to hit entire communities, sow fear and dismantle the processes of resistance and territorial recovery.
This new verdict is part of a long history of frame-ups, political persecution and the use of the judicial apparatus as a tool of control, where the Mapuche word is ignored and collective rights are systematically violated.
The role of the werkén, ancestral messenger and spokesperson, is once again punished, transforming him into an “internal enemy” for the sole fact of raising the voice of his people and we denounce once again the Mapuche political prison, the militarization of the Wallmapu and the structural racism of the Chilean State.
Freedom for Mapuche political prisoners.
Amulepe taiñ weichan.
SOURCE: Radio Primero de Mayo
Resumen Latinoamericano, January 20, 2026