Temucuicui Community Addresses Jorge Huenchullán’s Arrest, Calling Him a Media Trophy

Original article: «Nuestro Werken como trofeo mediático»: Comunidad Autónoma de Temucuicui se refiere a situación de Jorge Huenchullán y asegura que él decidió no evitar su detención In a public statement, the Autonomous Community of Temucuicui addressed the situation of their Werken, Jorge Huenchullán Cayul, who was detained by police on Tuesday, May 19, in an operation that received extensive media coverage. The community members highlighted that Huenchullán chose not to evade his arrest, «precisely after observing the disproportionate police and military deployment involved in the operation, including high-caliber weaponry, UZI submachine guns, armored vehicles, and aerial support via helicopters. » «In light of such a scenario, and understanding the enormous risk that a tense situation could pose to the families in the community, particularly for children, the elderly, and members of the Lof Temucuicui, the Werken decided not to expose his surroundings to an outcome that might endanger lives,» the statement from the Community asserts.

They clarified that Huenchullán’s choice was «a responsible act towards his community and not in response to the narrative of ‘operational victory’ which some sectors attempt to construct communicatively today. » «We believe that the media revival of Werken Jorge Huenchullán Cayul does not stem from a genuine interest in public information, but rather from the political need of the current government to construct an artificial narrative of triumph and territorial control. In the absence of structural results and political merits of their own, various sectors are trying to use his name as a media trophy aimed at strengthening the government’s image under José Antonio Kast in the eyes of the public,» emphasized the Mapuche community members.

«We reject the political exploitation and the media overexposure currently surrounding Werken Jorge Huenchullán Cayul. We believe that various actors are artificially inflating his image to create a false sense of governmental success and divert attention from the existing structural crisis in the Southern Macrozone,» reiterated the Community. Finally, they stressed that the underlying issue «remains political, historical, and territorial, and cannot be resolved through propaganda, criminalization, or media setups meant to create an illusion of control.

» «The historical debt regarding the restitution of ancestral Mapuche territory continues to be an unresolved reality for the Chilean state. In the face of this, our Werken Jorge Huenchullán Cayul will steadfastly maintain his political and territorial convictions, supporting the defense of our people’s rights from any space where the state and Chilean justice attempt to silence him, as the territorial claim and historical memory of our people cannot be nullified through persecution, criminalization, or imprisonment,» concludes the declaration. We will continue to provide updates.