Coordinadora Arauco-Malleco

Coordinadora Arauco Malleco
Emblem used by the Organos de Resistencia Territorial (military arm) in sabotage actions awarded by the CAM. The image represents a guemil (symbol of Mapuche iconography) with a Mapuche clava inside it.
Leaders	Héctor Llaitul
Dates of operation	1998–present
Active regions	La Araucania Region and Bio Bio Region
Ideology	Anti-capitalism[1] Anti-imperialism[2] Indigenism Ethnic nationalism[3]
Allies	Resistencia Ancestral Mapuche
Opponents	Carabineros de Chile Investigations Police of Chile

Coordinadora Arauco-Malleco (CAM) is a radical,^[4] militant indigenous organization engaged in political violence in pursuit of attaining an autonomous Mapuche state in the territory they describe as Wallmapu.

Founded in 1998 in Tranaquepe, Chile, CAM arose from the revitalization of the Mapuche conflict that decade, motivated by the extreme poverty and discrimination^[4] their ethnic group had to undergo for over a century, ever since the Occupation of Araucanía. CAM considers their own actions to be but fair self-defence amidst a struggle of national liberation,^[5] and their politics combine Mapuche traditions, Western political thought and knowledge acquired through experience.^[5]

CAM is responsible for several land occupations in the zones of Tirúa, Contulmo, Cañete and Temucuicui, and is known for resorting to arson^[6] against logging trucks and rural estates operating or located within the territories they claim as their own. Although occasionally such attacks have affected civilians, they aim to damage the property of those who "have usurped their homeland". Most of their actions are carried out on the sly, but sometimes they have resulted in confrontations with the "Fuerzas Especiales" of Carabineros de Chile. CAM has also backed minor Mapuche communities in taking direct action against forest companies and landowners who exploit the region, by lending them paramilitary support – a way of exerting political pressure.^[7]

On May 31, 2022, the Chamber of Deputies of Chile, with 66 votes in favor, 43 against and 13 abstentions, approved a resolution requesting the Chilean government to declare the CAM as an "illegal terrorist organization".^[8]