Historic moment in Chile as Mapuche woman elected president of Constituent Convention
STEVE SWEENEY MONDAY, JULY 5, 2021
Indigenous Mapuche Constituent Assembly representative Elisa Loncon, left, talks after she was elected president of the Constituent Assembly during the inaugural session of the Constitutional Convention
CHILE’S indigenous population is celebrating a historic victory after the election of a Mapuche woman as president of the country’s Constitutional Convention at its first session on Sunday.
Elisa Loncon won 96 votes in the second round of voting among the 155-member assembly tasked with drafting a new constitution for the South American country.
“Indigenous women are a fundamental part of the refoundation of the country. We were always the last in history. Today, we are reborn together. Thanks to the women of all peoples,” she said.
It marks a historic moment for the country: the Mapuche people, some 10 per cent of the Chilean population, have long been marginalised by successive governments —Chile’s Pinochet-era constitution is the only one in Latin America not acknowledging its indigenous people.
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