Defenders of the native land

Julia del Carmen Chuñil Catricura (16 July 1952 – 8 November 2024) was a Chilean Mapuche woman known for her disappearance on 8 November 2024 which drew national and international attention as a possible case of repression against an indigenous environmental defender. She has been variously been described as a homemaker, farmer and community leader and environmental defender from the Putreguel Indigenous Community in Máfil, Los Ríos Region. She served as president of her community and advocated for the protection of ancestral lands and native forests. On 8 November 2024, she was murdered in her home in Máfil during a family dispute involving the attempted robbery of an elderly neighbor's pension. The prosecutor's office of Los Ríos Region determined it was an intrafamily homicide, ruling out links to environmental activism or land conflicts. A thesis relating her disappearance to her activism and land conflicts had been promoted by members of Chuñil's family and the NGO Fundación Escazú Ahora.