SANTIAGO – Eighteen semi trucks were found destroyed by fire in a parking lot in the southern Chilean city of Temuco on Saturday, in what is believed to be an arson attack.
The trucks were being used to transport food, local authorities said.
Nora Barrientos, the governor of Araucania region told local radio that evidence gathered at the scene linked the fires to Weichan Auka Mapu, a resistance group formed by the indigenous Mapuche.
Weichan Auka Mapu has previously claimed responsibility for arson attacks in southern Chile, where it wants to regain land lost during Chile’s nineteenth century expansion southward into Mapuche-held territory.
Authorities were investigating and evaluating legal actions.
