Son of Chile Indigenous leader killed in restive province

A rights group says the shooting of Ernesto Llaitul, 26, son of a Mapuche leader, would exacerbate the complex situation in the region.

The son of a leader of Chile’s Mapuche people has been shot dead by police in the restive Araucania province, local media reported, in a potential blow to attempts to improve relations between the state and Indigenous people. The shooting on Friday, reported to be during a confrontation between police and alleged intruders at a forestry company, is likely to inflame tensions in the region. Indigenous people have claimed for decades that their territory has been illegally requisitioned by agriculture and forestry companies acting with state complicity.