Mapuche Group Lanalhue Dayinko Calls Ruka Dismantling at Lake Lanalhue a «Declaration of War» and Unlawful

The ruka, built on municipal land, was torn down in a joint police and military operation that the group calls «arbitrary» and carried out without a court order.

This Monday, October 13, the Mapuche organization Lanalhue Dayinko issued a statement denouncing the destruction of its ruka on the shores of Lake Lanalhue, in Contulmo, an action carried out before dawn in a large-scale raid. According to community members, the operation was directed by the Biobío Regional and Arauco Provincial Presidential Delegations, with Navy personnel under the command of Dieter Babilek, and a force «made up of more than 60 vehicles and over 200 officers armed with military-grade weapons,» they said.

The group said the ruka — which has been at the site since April — was the result of a six-year process that began with cleaning up an area they say had become a dump. It then evolved into a cultural space: «here we hold Mapuche cultural activities such as travkintu, prayer ceremonies, and even summer festivals,» they noted.

Lanalhue Dayinko describes the move as an arbitrary destruction: «without a court order and without allowing us to keep the construction materials,» which, in their view, «constitutes an illegal act that violates Chilean law.» The organization draws a historical parallel, calling it not just a provocation against the Mapuche people but «a declaration of war in which, once again, they hold the weapons while we have our wiños, our anger and our abandonment,» the statement said.

According to the organization, the alleged illegality stems from the absence of a judicial eviction order; the only penalty in force is a fine of 2 million pesos imposed by the Contulmo Local Police Court. They also argue that an appeal of the ruling is pending before the Concepción Court of Appeals, so the decision is not yet final or enforceable.

The events took place a day after the anniversary of October 12, 1492. The community associates the eviction with the so-called «Pacification of Araucanía,» recalling that it «killed our ancestors, burned them inside their rukas, stripped them of their lands, and deprived them of their culture,» they said.

The Lanalhue Dayinko Organization called on the Mapuche Nation to «not give up or become demoralized by these shameless actions of the Chilean state.» The statement concludes with a call to resist: «we must strengthen ourselves, rise up, and defend our dignity because we exist—they have not defeated us,» urging protection of their Ñuke Mapu.