Who is Elisa Loncon, the Mapuche who will chair the Constitutive Convention of Chile

This Sunday, the Chilean Constitutional Convention began to functionwho will be responsible for drafting a new constitution for the country within a maximum period of 12 months.

The first decision its 155 members had to make was to choose who would command their presidency, and who would serve as the organization’s vice-president.

Thus, after two hours of suspension of this body due to demonstrations in front of the National Congress, where the Carabinieri de Chile repressed a group of demonstrators, the first round of the body’s presidential ballot took place.

After two votes, the representative of the Mapuche people Elisa Loncon was chosen by her peers to lead the body with 96 votes in total.

Almost 24 hours after this historic event, apparently the country agrees with the election of Loncon as president of this body. According to the Cadem survey, 75% of Chileans think Loncon fits the profile required for the job: 67% of people questioned want the head of authority to be “from the regions” and 47% of people consulted want it to be a woman.

But how did he become a letter to chair this unprecedented body?

Who is Loncon

Elisa’s journey to chair the Chilean Constitutional Convention began on June 21, when it was proclaimed by 7 other voters of Mapuche origin, in the house of the machi and constituent Francisca Linconao, as the letter from your sector for the leadership of this historic body.

The 58-year-old woman is a well-known Mapuche teacher, linguist and activist. Loncon was born in the Mapuche community of Lefweluan, in the municipality of Traiguén, province of Malleco, located in the region of La Araucanía, in southern Chile.

His mother tongue is Mapudungun and he also speaks Spanish and English.

Among his various graduate studies, stands out a master’s degree in linguistics from the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana de México and Doctor of Human Sciences at the University of Leiden, Holland, as well as the Doctorate in Literature from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

Elisa is the fourth of seven siblings, and his paternal great-grandfather, as head of his community, participated in land reclamation prior to land reform.

His political career started almost as a family heirloom: It is said that his great-grandfather, who bore the name of Loncomil, participated in the fight against the military occupation of the wallmapu (Mapuche territory), and was an ally of José Santos Quilapán (1840-1878) said the last lonko who resisted the occupation of La Araucanía, and who defeated the Chilean army, in the city of Quechereguas (1868).

For that, is that since his childhood he participated in various social organizations. For example, during his time at university, he was active in groups of native students. and the Mapuche Admapu Theater. In addition, she was a prominent member of the All Lands Council and participated in the creation of the Mapuche flag and the reclamation of indigenous lands.

First words and challenges of the present

After your choice yesterday, Elisa Loncon called on Mapudungun to “rebuild this Chile” and “extend this democracy”.

“This dream is a dream of our ancestors. This dream becomes reality. It is possible to rebuild this Chile. Establish a new relationship ”, Loncon said in his first speech this Sunday.

Accompanied at all times by the Machi and ancestral Mapuche authority, the constituent Francisca Linconao, Elisa Loncon also greeted the “people of Chile from the north to Patagonia, from Lafken (the sea) to the mountain range ”and pointed out that we must work for “sexual diversity”, women and children, and aimed to evolve towards a “plurinational and intercultural” Chile.

For this monday the Constitutional Convention should meet at 3 pm “so that we can discuss the declaration concerning the prisoners of the revolt, and on the other hand for us to discuss the possible enlargement of the board of directors ”, according to the vice-president of the organization, lawyer Jaime Bassa.

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