“We think Varela's arrest is unacceptable,” Platform spokesperson and Universidad de Chile professor Fransisco Gedda told the Santiago Times. “The fact that her materials have not been linked to the cause of her arrest is also extremely serious.”

Varela has been working on a documentary on Chile's Mapuche indigenous community for more than four years. With financing from the government-run National Culture and Arts Council, she was able to travel widely through Mapuche territories in Regions VIII and IX and collect detailed testimony from community members.

Varela was suddenly arrested on May 7 near her Region IX residence and charged with “intent to commit a crime.” She was taken to a jail near Rancagua, Region VI, where she remains in police custody. Police confiscated all of her audiovisual equipment, including hours of recorded interviews, cell phones, sound equipment, and cameras.

The arrest immediately aroused the concern of Amnesty International, which put out an “urgent” call for action (ST, June 5). Those appeals snowballed on Monday, as protest organizers put forth a list of seven demands: Varela's immediate release; the return of her confiscated equipment; a pledge to never arrest journalists for intelligence-gathering purposes; an end to arbitrary detentions and police espionage; the repeal of Chile's Anti-Terrorism Law; and a guarantee of the freedom of the press.

The Platform for the Freedom of Expression and Creation includes artists, journalists, intellectuals, and members of social organizations.

Aside from voicing their concerns, many protesters played songs and performed dances as an expression of Chile's cultural diversity. Meanwhile, a smaller group attempted to force its way into the Supreme Court, but were immediately blocked by police officers and court guards. A heated scuffle ensued between uniformed officials and the protesters, some of whom likened the response to police repression. Still, no arrests were made.

Protest organizer Italo Retamal said he was part of a group of journalists and artists that visited Varela last weekend and warned that her mental health is deteriorating. He said that Varela is currently in isolated confinement and worries constantly about her young daughter.

He added that Varela's lawyers decided to drop the case late last week due to time constraints, but that former Judge Juan Guzman has expressed interest in representing Varela. Guzman was the first judge to formally investigate former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet for human rights abuses committed during his regime.

Platform members said they are preparing legal measures of their own. “We are preparing a legal appeal,” said Gedda. “And we are going to keep on pressuring through both Chilean and international organizations in honor of a right that we think is essential.”

Meanwhile, Varela's arrest is already drawing attention in other parts of the world. The journalists rights organization Reporters Without Borders recently sent a letter to President Michelle Bachelet asking that the circumstances surrounding her arrest be clarified.

“Why was the seizure of this material considered necessary in an investigation into events that had nothing to do with her documentary?” says the letter, dated June 6. “It is also legitimate to ask how someone who was accused of such crimes and who was presumably being sought by the police could receiving government funding for a film.”

“We sent this letter in order to alert Chile’s government, not specifically President Bachelet,” Benoit Herviru, the director of Reporters Without Borders' Americas Program told the Santiago Times in a telephone interview. “There are some aspects in this case that we consider suspicious. We also want clarification as to why it seems that, whenever Chilean or foreign journalists want to do a project on the Mapuche community, there are always problems.”

Varela's arrest follows similar arrests of journalists also filming Mapuche communities. In March, Region IX police detained two French journalists, alleging that they had witnessed a fire set by Mapuches on the country estate “Fundo La Romana,” located a few kilometers from Collipuli. After spending the night in police custody, the two journalists, identified as Christopher Cyril Harrison and Joffrey Paul Rossj, were released (ST, March 25).

On May 3, two Italian journalists - Giuseppe Gabriele and Dario Ioseffi - were filming a Mapuche gathering on property owned by Forestal Mininco when they were arrested.

“They treated us like terrorists,” the Italians said. “The pushed our faces in the dirt and handcuffed us. They accused us of robbing wood. (ST, May 27)”

By Matt Malinowski