Escalating tensions between the Mapuche people and Chile’s government following a spate of devastating forest fires reveal the high cost of policies that champion multinational corporations by subordinating environmental protection to market growth.
The fires have thrown into stark relief the consequences of a strategy that has made Chile a rising star in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, yet has made few concessions to indigenous rights and remains deaf to warnings about forestry practices.
The OECD – which is seeking to expand its reach in Latin America and sees Chile as a model for Brazil’s potential membership – has itself come under pressure to develop more rigorous guidelines on how multinationals should behave towards indigenous peoples.
For more on this story, visit: Forest fires in Chile stoke tensions over indigenous land rights | Gavin O’Toole | Global development | guardian.co.uk.