Chile to Focus on Land Restitution to Stem Indigenous Conflict

Chile’s government is pressing on with talks and plans to speed up land restitutions as it pours money into parts of the south scarred by an increasingly violent conflict with indigenous communities, a government official said.

Determining the territory to be handed back is a hard task that requires long negotiations with local Mapuche groups, Social Development Minister Jeanette Vega said in an interview. The aim is to restore calm to a region some 600 kilometers (373 miles) south of Santiago, the country’s capital, that has seen regular attacks and episodes of violence against the local forestry industry.