The search for a missing environmental defender in Chile has intensified in the last few hours. The missing person is Julia Chuñil, the president of the Mapuche community Putreguel.
The 72-year-old woman went out on November 8, accompanied by her dog, to look for her cows in the countryside and never returned. This happened in the commune of Máfil, about 800 kilometers south of Santiago de Chile.
Who is the missing environmental defender in Chile
Julia Chuñil is a prominent environmental leader in the Los Ríos region. The organization Escazú Ahora denounced that the activist has been a victim since 2018 of verbal threats, physical intimidation, and even attacks on her property.
According to them, these actions were carried out by local businessmen who want to exploit a 900-hectare native forest and commercialize its wood.
The search intensifies over a month later
It has been 40 days since the environmental defender was last seen. Escazú Ahora organization denounces that it could be a kidnapping, as investigators found tire tracks right where the activist’s traces disappear.
Even the President of Chile, Gabriel Boric, echoed the accusation days ago. He committed to the case and assured that he “will not relent until she is found.”
Escazú Ahora’s Criticism
The organization, which documented more than thirty cases of violence against environmental defenders last year in Chile, is very critical of the government’s slow implementation of the Escazú Agreement.
The pact is for Latin America’s nature and is the first in the world to include the protection of environmental activists.
“Julia’s situation is not an isolated case. Latin America is the most dangerous region in the world to protect the environment, and Chile is no exception,” said Sebastian Benfeld, president of Escazú Ahora.
“As a Mapuche woman and president of her community, since 2015 she has been protecting a property that corresponds to ancestral indigenous lands, where she lives with her livestock in a small-scale farming operation,” said lawyer Karen Sanhueza, consulted by DW.
“She lives in harmony and preserves the lush native forest that is there,” she added.
Alert and Search
Intense operations are being carried out in the area by police units, firefighters, and organizations. However, there are no clues about the whereabouts of the environmental defender yet.
No clothing or personal items have been found, and her dog has not appeared either.
Family members and representatives of the NGO met with the Congress’s Environmental Commission, which agreed to appeal to government authorities to reinforce resources in the search.
The activist’s son, Pablo San Martín, spoke to the parliamentarians. “She has experienced a lot of harassment, threats. She always told us: ‘they are after me, they want to drive me out. I’m not going to leave,'” he recounted.
Civil society organizations also demand concrete measures.
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