Social Development suspends Mapuche indigenous consultation for the eighteenth time

The Ministry of Social Development and Family, through the Undersecretariat of Social Services, has suspended for another 15 business days the prior consultation process of the Mapuche people regarding the new land system in Biobío, La Araucanía, Los Ríos, and Los Lagos. The decision is contained in exempt resolution No. 388, dated October 2, 2026, published in the Official Gazette No. 44,579 on Wednesday, October 21, 2026 (CVE 2884717). This is the eighteenth consecutive suspension of the procedure initiated in June 2025.

The process was initiated via exempt resolution No. 244, dated June 27, 2025, published on July 3 of that year, which ordered the start of the prior consultation on measures relating to a new land system for Mapuche indigenous communities and organizations in the four regions, convened the representative institutions of the Mapuche people, and opened the administrative file. Its regulatory framework is ILO Convention No. 169, promulgated by supreme decree No. 236 of 2008 from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the General Regulation for Indigenous Consultation, approved by supreme decree No. 66 of 2013, published on March 4, 2014, whose article 18 enables the suspension of the procedure.

The planning stage convened its first meetings between Wednesday, August 13, and Thursday, September 25, 2025, a period during which 71 meetings were held in 71 defined localities across the regions of Biobío, La Araucanía, Los Ríos, and Los Lagos. Since then, seventeen exempt resolutions from the same ministry, also signed by the Ministry of the Interior, have successively extended the suspension.

The report supporting the decision

The Department of Indigenous Affairs, dependent on the Undersecretariat of the Interior of the Ministry of the Interior, presented the eighteenth reasoned suspension report, dated September 25, 2026, sent to the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Social Development and Family via ordinary official letter No. 23134, dated September 25, 2026.

In that report, the technical body concluded that “it is still not feasible to verify the enablement of the conditions required for the continuation of the process,” because substantive elements persist that need to be addressed. Consequently, it estimated that it is not possible to resume the procedure under conditions that allow its purpose to be fulfilled—that is, to reach an agreement or achieve consent regarding the proposed measure, according to article 2 of the regulation—and considered a new suspension appropriate under article 18, first and second paragraphs.

Fifteen business days and pending dialogue

The first ruling provides for the suspension of the prior consultation administrative procedure for a period of 15 business days, counted from the date of the total processing of the act. The second ruling orders the incorporation of a copy of the resolution into the administrative file associated with the process.

The report further recommends proceeding with the design and implementation of dialogue and relationship instances with various actors from the representative institutions of the convened Mapuche people, with the aim of creating the conditions that allow for the proper development of the process. The resolution orders its publication in the Official Gazette, on the Active Transparency Portal of the Undersecretariat of the Interior and the Undersecretariat of Social Services, and on the consultation website, throughout the entire suspension period.

The act bears the signature of the Minister of Social Development and Family, María Jesús Wulf Le May, and the Minister of the Interior, Claudio Alvarado Andrade, and was transcribed by the Undersecretary of Social Services, Alejandro Fernández González.

The seventeen previous suspensions

The exempt resolutions that extended the suspension since September 2025 are:

• No. 412, of September 29, 2025, published on September 30, 2025.
• No. 462, of October 21, 2025, published on October 22, 2025.
• No. 525, of November 12, 2025, published on November 13, 2025.
• No. 557, of December 3, 2025, published on December 4, 2025.
• No. 604, of December 26, 2025, published on December 29, 2025.
• No. 16, of January 21, 2026, published on January 21, 2026.
• No. 50, of February 12, 2026, published on February 12, 2026.
• No. 102, of March 6, 2026, published on March 6, 2026.
• No. 138, of March 24, 2026, published on March 27, 2026.
• No. 147, of April 13, 2026, published on April 16, 2026.
• No. 156, of May 5, 2026, published on May 7, 2026.
• No. 184, of May 27, 2026, published on May 29, 2026.
• No. 206, of June 17, 2026, published on June 19, 2026.
• No. 239, of July 8, 2026, published on July 10, 2026.
• No. 254, of July 30, 2026, published on August 6, 2026.
• No. 323, of August 21, 2026, published on August 28, 2026.
• No. 360, of September 11, 2026, published on September 24, 2026.

The new extension confirms that the prior consultation process regarding the new Mapuche land system will remain stalled at least until well into the last quarter of 2026, with no certain date for resumption. For the communities and organizations convened across the four regions, the practical effect is the continuation of a paralysis that has already exceeded one year since the first planning meetings, while the Executive keeps pending the definition of the conditions to resume dialogue and the measures under consultation.

Source: Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile, No. 44,579, Wednesday, October 21, 2026, Section I (General Norms), pp. 1-6 (official reference: CVE 2884717).