What do Mapuches think?
Centro de Estudios Públicos (CEP) is one of the most respected think tanks in Chile. Their annual poll has been recording the mood of Chileans for decades already. Now they have issued a new poll, though a specific one on the issue of the Mapuche people. You may be aware that a group of this origin is engaging in violent actions both in Chile and Argentina, claiming for land or even for independence, taking private property or destroying some of it.
Now the poll is quite interesting. You can find it at CEP’s website (https://www.cepchile.cl/cep/site/docs/20220802/20220802173343/encuestacep_especial87.pdf)
But I am going to point out just a few questions, and I am going to show the opinions of the mapuches:
1. In democracies, the aspiration is for there to be public and private freedoms and for there to be public order and citizen security. In your case, which value do you give more importance to? Scale: 1 “Let there be public and private freedoms” –10 “Let there be public order and citizen security”
14% go for 1 to 4, 67% go for 7 to 10 (the rest is in between)
2. Where would you place yourself on this scale, where 1 means “earnings should become more equal, even if individual effort is not rewarded” and 10 means “individual effort should be rewarded, even though there are significant differences in earnings”?
27% go from 1 to 4 (they should be more equal), 51% go for 7 to 10 (individual effort should be rewarded even it it brings inequality). The results are not different from “non mapuches”.
3. How much do you agree with the creation of indigenous territorial autonomies within the Chilean State?
43% much in agreement, 34% much in disagreement (among the mapuches)
4. How much do you agree with the establishment of an independent Mapuche state, that is, as a country totally separate from Chile?
16% much in agreement, 70% much in disagreement (only a few points difference between mapuches and no mapuches)
5. Do you believe that the use of force to claim land...?
59% never, 26% sometimes, 11% always