Original article: Red de Apoyo al Machi Celestino Córdova denuncia que Gendarmería le negó permiso para realizar ceremonia de Wiñol Txipantü

Support Network for Machi Celestino Córdova Condemns Gendarmería’s Denial of Permission for Wiñol Txipantü Ceremony

The family and support network for Machi Celestino Córdova has reported that CET authorities in Vilcún have denied the Mapuche leader permission to conduct the Wiñol Txipantü ceremony at the site.

In a statement detailing the situation, they accused that «the reasons provided by Gendarmería are arbitrary and discriminatory, as their primary argument is that the proposed location, Ngüllatuwe, would not allow for safety conditions,» which they assert is false since the site «has a semi-open regime and there is a previous example of a Ngüllatun ceremony being held there for four days with overnight stays. Thus, this argument falls flat,» warns the declaration.

Furthermore, they pointed out that Gendarmería refers to a judicial ruling that denies the Machi the ability to hold the Wiñol Txipantü ceremony at Ngüllatuwe, while not applying the same restrictions to other inmates at the CET. Consequently, they argue that this violates the constitutional right to freedom of worship.

«Since the previous government of Boric, we have seen an increase in militarization in Mapuche territory and how our hard-won rights are disappearing in general, especially concerning rights tied to our customs, cultural expressions, and particularly our freedom of worship in various prisons,» stated representatives from the Support Network for Machi Celestino.

«This disastrous Kast government has intensified these issues and seeks to forcibly undermine all the rights we, as indigenous peoples, have achieved through mobilization, following the orders of Donald Trump to make us vanish,» they added.

In light of this, they called for action to «defend our rights enshrined in Indigenous Law, ILO Convention 169, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, demanding the implementation of recommendations made by the UN in 2025 to ensure indigenous access to their sacred sites, with an emphasis on those who are incarcerated.»

In this context, they recalled that the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), a body composed of 18 independent experts primarily tasked with monitoring how States implement the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, made several recommendations to Chile in September 2025, including this aspect.

Specifically, the Committee urged the Chilean state to take measures «to protect and guarantee indigenous peoples’ access to their sacred, religious, and cultural sites, and ensure the right of indigenous individuals deprived of their liberty to practice their customs and spiritual and religious ceremonies,» a principle that Gendarmería has once again violated against Mapuche inmates.

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