A Mapuche leader, Adolfo Millabur, visits London The Mapuche nation was conquered only 100 years ago by the Chilean and Argentinean states. Much of the Mapuche's land has been taken away in contravention of treaties with Chile and Argentina. Nevertheless, there are still one and a half million Mapuche people living in Chile and Argentina where they exist on small reservations on which it is difficult to maintain their traditional life and culture. As a result of the lack of land and resources, infant mortality among the Mapuches is the highest in Chile, and the average life span is ten years less than that of other Chileans. Educational opportunities for Mapuche children are limited and there is a high rate of adult illiteracy. The drive to modernise the Chilean economic infrastructure via a programme of road building, hydroelectric dams and industrialisation has often been detrimental to Mapuche interests. Many such projects are carried out in contravention of Chile's Law Concerning Indigenous Peoples. According to this statute projects can only go ahead with the permission of the indigenous landowners but in reality the work is pushed through without the consent of the communities concerned. For further information, contact Mapuche International Link Tel/Fax +44-117-927 9391 e-mail: mapulink@aol.com http://members.aol.com/mapulink