Chilean authorities detained the director of a Mapuche newspaper June 2 in what some of his colleagues say was an attempt to keep him from speaking at an international journalists conference. Pedro Cayuqueo Millaqueo, director of the Mapuche newspaper Azkintuwe, was jailed because a judge said he failed to pay a fine in 1999 after he was convicted of theft of private property when he helped seize timber and equiptment from a company operating on Mapuche territory.
Although the judge's ruling is legal, the nature of the sentence—Cayuqueo must spend 41 nights in prison, but can leave during the day—has led the editorial team of Azkintuwe to believe the sentence was meant to prevent Cayuqueo from lecturing on the Mapuche at an indigenous journalists conference in Canada scheduled for June 14-24.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Pérez-Esquivel has sent a letter to Chilean President Ricardo Lagos urging Cayuqueo's release, Azkintuwe reported. Pérez-Esquivel told reporters the arrest was "a hit against liberty" and said the Mapuche community must inform itself and the national society about their situation.
Under Cayuqueo's direction, Azkintuwe published critiques of Chile's government and judicial system, alleging many discrepancies between the treatment of the Mapuche and those in the upper echelons of Chilean society.
