SANTAGO – Chile’s Supreme Court has ordered Francisca Ponce, granddaughter of former dictator Augusto Pinochet, to return the lands to the indigenous community of Llanquilef de Puyehue, in the Los Lagos Region.
The lands of the Mapuche community of Puyehue (900 kilometers south of Santiago) were transferred to Francisca Ponce, daughter of Julio Ponce Lerou.
A court of first instance had initially ordered the Mapuche to leave the land, a decision that was appealed to the high court and that ruled on appeals for the community.
The councilman of the commune of Puyehue, Reinado Uribe, explained that this land was of the grandparents of the marriage composed by Anatolio Guerrero and Juana Llanquileo, consigned Cooperativa radio. “The grandchildren of this marriage have given the struggle for their lands to be returned and today justice has been done,” said the councilman.
The ruling of the fourth court of the highest court establishes that the plaintiff does not have standing to claim ownership of the land, since it is not registered in its name, but that of a company of which she is a member.
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The property was occupied in claim as ancestral lands on May 14, 2014 and is maintained to date, while the plaintiff is holder of rights and actions on it only from April 2015, as detailed in the court decision.
