Chile police officer sentenced for killing of Mapuche farmer on 'historic day' [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

Camilo Catrillanca, 24, was shot during a vehicle chase
Case highlights treatment of largest indigenous group

Charis McGowan in Santiago
Fri 29 Jan 2021 06.00 EST

A Chilean police officer has been jailed for killing a Mapuche farmer during a vehicle chase in a case that cast a harsh spotlight on the country’s treatment of its largest indigenous group.

Camilo Catrillanca, the 24-year-old grandson of a prominent Mapuche indigenous leader, was shot in the back of the head in November 2018 in Temucuicui, a small community 600km south of the capital, Santiago.

His death – and a subsequent attempted cover-up by police officers – caused widespread public outrage and reignited deep-seated grievances over the Chilean state’s treatment of the Mapuche.

On Thursday, the police officer, Carlos Alarcón, was sentenced to 11 years in prison over Catrillanca’s death, with an extra five years for the attempted killing of a 15-year-old boy who was on a tractor with Catrillanca.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/jan/29/chile-police-officer-mapuche-killing-sentenced











Funeral for assassinated Camilo Catrillanca.

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The racist cop, a killer from the deadly Carabineros: