GNV News, December 28, 2025

On December 19, 2025, in Chile, the new anti-terrorism law was applied for the first time. The law took effect on February 4, 2025, defines terrorism in detail, and imposes harsher penalties on those who support individuals involved in terrorist activity and the organizations that carry it out. This time, the targets were two members of the Mapuche minority.

They have reportedly been subjected to torture and political persecution and are facing the possibility of being legally detained without trial for up to five years during the terrorism investigation. By invoking the anti-terror law to bring a case, the accused are treated not as ordinary criminals but as “political prisoners.” It has also been pointed out that this is tied to moves to criminalize the Mapuche people’s resistance movements for territorial recovery and against development projects.

Mapuche refers to an Indigenous people of the Americas who live in south-central Chile and southern Argentina. The Mapuche have a history of having their land taken and their rights violated under long-standing repression by the Chilean government. In May 2025, a special committee working on land conflicts and Indigenous rights in Chile submitted to the president a report that included recommendations to end violent clashes.

Learn more about the Mapuche → “Oppressed Indigenous Peoples: The Mapuche of South America”

Learn more about Chilean politics → “Toward a ‘New Chile’”

Mapuche people unfurling flags (Photo: Carol Crisosto Cadiz / Wikimedia Commons [CC BY-SA 2.0])