Neltume facts for kids

Neltume is a small town in Chile, located in the Panguipulli area of the Los Ríos Region. It sits along the main road that leads to Huahum Pass, which crosses into Argentina. The town's main jobs used to be in forestry, which means working with trees and wood. More recently, tourism has become very important, especially since the Huilo-Huilo Biological Reserve was created in 1999.

For many years in the 20th century, Neltume was a place where people often protested for better rights. These events ended in 1981 when a group called "Toqui Lautaro" was stopped by the military government in Chile.

History of Neltume

Early Settlement and Growth (1898–1944)

The Neltume area began to be settled in the early 1900s. This happened because the wood industry in Chile was growing fast. Before this time, there were no records of people living permanently in the wet, forested areas of Neltume. The native Mapuche people mostly lived near the shores of lakes like Calafquén, Panguipulli, and Riñihue Lake. They would sometimes visit the eastern parts of these lakes to gather food.

In 1885, the town of Panguipulli saw its first non-indigenous settlers. By 1898, a small company that worked with forests started in Neltume. Later, in 1942, a factory that made engineered wood was built in Neltume. Before a gravel road was built, people and goods in Neltume relied on steam boats to travel across Panguipulli Lake.

Workers' Rights and Changes (1945–1973)

Neltume got its first police station in 1945. This was because workers at one of the large country estates (called fundos) owned by the Echavarri y Bravo company started protesting. These lumberjacks and farmworkers were asking for better working conditions. The authorities reacted strongly, and about 20 families were forced to leave the area.

In 1951, there was another strike among sawmill and forestry workers. They tried to form a trade union and demanded higher salaries. As a result, about 40 leaders and their families were made to leave Neltume. People who lived through this time remember that the police took people to Valdivia. They also said the strike lasted about three months. One person even said that the sawmill boss told the police to shoot any striker seen walking at night. This strong reaction meant that workers could not form unions in the area until the 1960s, during the Unidad Popular government.

In 1971, after several unofficial land takeovers, the Unidad Popular government took over a large estate called Carranes. This estate became part of the Complejo Forestal y Maderero Panguipulli. This new organization combined other lands that had been taken over, covering a huge area of 360,000 hectares of forest. Land in Liquiñe and Chihuío, which are outside Neltume, also became part of this group. In 1972, President Salvador Allende visited Neltume.

On September 2, 1973, just nine days before a big change in Chile's government, a newspaper reported something important. It said that the Chilean Air Force had found strangers in a "zone called Neltume." The newspaper also said that local Mapuche people had reported these strangers.

Events After the 1973 Coup

After hearing about the September 11, 1973, change in government, a group called MRC (Revolutionary Campesino Movement) decided to act. They wanted to take control of the police station in Neltume. Their plan was to make the police surrender, get them to join their side, and take any weapons they found.

The MRC group gathered all the weapons they could find, which were four rifles and some shotguns. They also made many molotov cocktails and homemade grenades. The attack started at 2:00 AM on September 12. Between 60 and 80 men were part of the attack.

A former member, Jorge Durán Delgado, who was 19 at the time, remembered the moment. He said someone shouted for the police to surrender and not be afraid. The police commander, Benito Carrasco Riffo, shouted back that they would not surrender.

Inside the police station, four police officers had two automatic rifles and two carbines. They used these to fire back at the MRC group. The police station was a simple wooden building, but it was strong enough to resist the attackers' weapons. Rain also helped by stopping the Molotov cocktails from setting the building on fire. The wives and children of the police officers were also inside the station. One officer asked for help from the police station in Choshuenco, which was about 20 kilometers away.

Around 3:00 AM, four more police officers arrived in a pickup truck to help. They accidentally fired at their own side at first. By the time they arrived, the attack was almost over, and the MRC group had left.

After the Attack

No one died in the attack, and the police station was not badly damaged. The police tried to find out what weapons were used, but they could not find any of the bullets fired at the station. Later, in October 1973, 12 people were executed in Valdivia for their actions and "guerrilla activities" in Neltume. On November 3, 1973, three young men were sentenced to death by a military court for being part of the attack. In 1990, a general said that executing these three men was "terrible" because there was no proof they were involved. Around September 18, 1973, special forces searched the Neltume area for the leader of the MRC, who was later captured and executed.

During these events in 1973, a villager named Luís Ancapi reportedly survived a fall from a plane by landing in a thick patch of Chusquea quila plants, which acted like a soft mattress.

Changes After the Military Government (1987–1990)

In the last years of the military government in Chile, between 1987 and 1990, large areas of land that used to be part of the Complejo Forestal y Maderero Panguipulli were sold. These sales happened in ways that were not very clear. Wealthy Chilean business people bought these lands. For example, Andrónico Luksic's family now owns large properties around Neltume, including land along the Enco River.

Another rich businessman, Víctor Petermann, took control of a property called Fundo Huilo-Huilo in the 1990s. He created the luxurious Huilo-Huilo Biological Reserve. This reserve is used for both ecotourism (travel that helps the environment) and for protecting different kinds of biodiversity (all the different plants and animals).

See also

In Spanish: Neltume para niños