Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 18 January 2018
Pope has tough words for indigenous, Chile during Mass

By NICOLE WINFIELD his weeklong trip to Chile
PATRICIA LUNA and Peru to put the issue on
Associated Press the global agenda and set
TEMUCO, Chile (AP) — the stage for a big church
Pope Francis took the Chil- meeting next year on the
ean state and the coun- Amazon and native peo-
try’s largest indigenous ples who live there.
group to task Wednesday The Mass was replete with
over their failure to forge a Mapuche cultural refer-
truly unified nation, saying ences and symbolism,
the government must do with traditional music and
more than just negotiate prayers sprinkled through-
“elegant” agreements and out. The pope uttered Ma-
radical Mapuche factions puche greetings through-
must stop violence. out his homily.
Francis’ pointed hom- The world’s first Latin Ameri-
ily in the heart of Chile’s can pope knows well the
restive Araucania region conflict-ridden modern his-
came hours after two more tory of his home continent:
churches and three heli- He was a young Jesuit su-
copters were torched — at- perior during neighboring
tacks blamed on Mapuche Argentina’s “Dirty War,”
radical groups demand- when thousands of sus-
ing the return of ancestral Flower petals surround an image of Pope Francis that reads in Spanish “Welcome to Peru Pope pected leftists were killed,
lands and the release of Francis,” placed by Shamans performing a welcome ritual for the pontiff one day before he arrives imprisoned or disappeared
Mapuche prisoners. No ar- to Peru, on Agua Dulce beach in Lima, Peru, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018. at the hands of the military
rests have been made. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia) junta. In Chile, the govern-
The outdoor Mass at the “We offer this Mass for all task, saying violence conao, a Mapuche leader ment estimates that 3,095
Maqueue Air Base was those who suffered and wasn’t the answer to their who has been implicated people were killed, includ-
steeped in symbolism be- died, and for those who grievances. in the burning deaths of ing about 1,200 who were
cause of its own history: the daily bear the burden of “You cannot assert your- a couple in 2013, tried to forcibly disappeared.
land was taken from the those many injustices,” he selves by destroying others, approach Francis as he Francis’ gesture of cele-
Mapuche in the early 20th said. because this only leads to passed in his popemobile, brating Mass on the site of
century and the location Francis also referred to the more violence and divi- but police kept her away. some of the military’s worst
was also used as a deten- recent violence that has sion,” he admonished in She said she wanted to atrocities recalled St. John
tion and torture facility in flared in Araucania, Chile’s his homily. “Violence be- give him an open letter Paul II’s famous 1987 visit
the early years of Gen. Au- poorest region, and be- gets violence, destruction asking him to intervene in to Chile during the wan-
gusto Pinochet’s military yond. No one has claimed increases fragmentation the long-standing conflict ing years of the Pinochet
dictatorship. responsibility for the 11 and separation. Violence and proclaiming her inno- regime. In one of the most
Leading some 150,000 peo- firebombs that have dam- eventually makes a most cence. “The pope could poignant moments of that
ple in a moment of silent aged, or in some cases, just cause into a lie.” speak, could mediate in Ar- trip, the Polish pope deliv-
prayer, Francis said the fer- burned churches to the At the same time, he de- aucania region about the ered a speech to young
tile green fields and snow- ground in several parts of manded the government situation of the Mapuche people gathered in San-
capped mountains of the Chile in recent days. In- not just negotiate “ele- who are being incarcer- tiago’s national stadium,
Mapuche heartland in vestigators have found gant” agreements with in- ated,” Linconao told The which had been used as a
Chile’s southern Araucania pamphlets promoting the digenous peoples, but ac- Associated Press. detention and torture cen-
region were both blessed Mapuche cause at some tually implement them. The Argentine pope is ter. With the wounds of the
by God and cursed by of the torched churches He called said such de- particularly attuned to in- regime still fresh, John Paul
man, the site of “grave hu- and by the helicopters set tailed plans that yield noth- digenous issues and their urged Chile’s youth to look
man rights violations” dur- ablaze overnight. ing a form of violence “be- campaigns for recognition forward with hope, even
ing the 1973-1990 dictator- The Argentine Jesuit pope cause it frustrates hope.” of their land, culture and from a place of “pain and
ship. took radical factions to After the Mass, Machi Lin- traditions. He hopes to use suffering.”q

Puerto Rico embraces ‘broken windows’ policing amid killings

By DANICA COTO traffic infractions and ille- more serious crimes. month, although a hand- lowing the storm.
Associated Press gal tints on car windows, in Critics contend the strat- ful of arrest warrants have More than 2,000 police of-
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico an effort to get criminals off egy is not effective and tar- been issued. ficers were calling in sick
(AP) — Federal and local the street and prevent big- gets minorities. The cities of Carolina and daily, compared with an
authorities in Puerto Rico ger crimes, Justice Secre- Nearly all the victims in Caguas are tied for the average of 600 on a nor-
said Tuesday that they will tary Wanda Vazquez said. Puerto Rico’s homicide highest number of killings at mal day, forcing dozens of
implement a “broken win- “We are an island of law surge have been young nine, followed by the capi- police stations to close for
dows” policing campaign and order, and we will be- men in their 20s who were tal of San Juan with eight. hours or days at a time dur-
to fight a surge in killings have as such,” she said. shot to death, with police The spike in killings comes ing the holidays.
across the U.S. territory, The “broken windows” phi- saying they believe most amid a widespread power However, government of-
which has reported 46 ho- losophy was implemented cases are drug related. outage left by Hurricane ficials recently said ab-
micides so far this month — by then New York City May- Earlier this week, a 20-year- Maria and an increase in sences have dropped sig-
double the number at the or Rudy Giuliani in the 1990s old university student work- absences among police nificantly in the islandwide
same point last year. with the idea that cracking ing at a food truck was fa- officers who are protest- force, which is one of the
The plan is to crack down down on minor offenses tally shot during a robbery. ing, among other things, largest police departments
on all types of violations, such as public urination No one has been arrested millions of dollars owed in under U.S. jurisdiction with
down to minor ones like and graffiti can help deter in any of the killings this overtime pay this year fol- some 13,600 officers.q