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THE GUARDIAN
May 2025
 

Silence surrounds the disappearance of Chilean grandmother Julia Chuñil. What really happened?



Nearly five months ago, the Indigenous land rights defender went out to herd animals in the forest and vanished. Her family say she had been threatened – and no trace of her has been found


Julia Chuñil Catricura’s home is a wooden cabin nestled within the dense foliage of the hilly Valdivian rainforest. It has no running water, electricity or mobile phone coverage. It is a modest setup – for Chuñil, living here was an act of resistance, a vindication of her rights.

Chuñil, 72, is Mapuche, Chile’s largest Indigenous group. A land defender who fought for Mapuche land rights and practised ancestral farming methods and medicinal techniques, she moved to this spot in 2015.”

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 Hi, I'm Charis McGowan, a British-Caribbean writer based between London, UK, and Santiago, Chile.

I’ve been a regular news stringer in Chile for over eight years, contributing to outlets including The Guardian, Al Jazeera, the BBC, The Telegraph, and more. My work primarily focuses on human rights and social justice. Additionally, I am the former Music Editor-at-Large at gal-dem, where I wrote extensively about music and culture with a focus on Latin America and the Caribbean.

I’m open to commissions, collaborations, talks, and projects.
 
Please get in touch via the form. 

Or email me at: charismcgowan at gmail.com