Chile: Mapuche Community Denounces COVID-19 Outbreak In Prison

People demonstrate for Mapuche rights in Santiago, Chile, August 15, 2020. | Photo: EFE

29 August 2020

The inmates have been suffering from serious symptoms such as arrhythmia, dyspnea, and headache.

Several Mapuche communities Saturday denounced a COVID-19 outbreak in the Lebu prison’s cells compounds where several Mapuche political prisoners are on hunger strike.

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According to a statement, the prisoners have been suffering from serious symptoms such as arrhythmia, dyspnea, and headache. the community members have denounced that those symptoms have been hidden or handled by the Gendarmerie in order to lower the profile of the prisoners’ condition.

The statement indicated that "after days of several and cumbersome postponement actions a medical team was able to enter the prison, and was able to verify that, at this moment, there are three prisoners with COVID-19 symptoms."

They accused the Chilean Gendarmerie of "grave negligence", an institution that has prevented the entrance of trusted doctors to the prisons holding Mapuche prisoners on hunger strike.

On the other hand, Lebu’s prisoners’ spokesperson Auka Castro pointed out that "yesterday at midnight a brother was taken to the hospital and this morning we also knew that there are two brothers who are in a serious situation.”

"As of today, the situation of the Lebu strikers has become extremely critical. Their health is extremely deteriorated, they have already been on hunger strike for more than 50 days,” Castro complained.