The limits of indigenous recognition in neoliberal Chile: The implementation of ILO Convention 169 from the perspective of Mapuche Williche leaders

ILO Convention 169 was ratified by Chile in 2008, after seventeen years of parliamentary procedures. Its entry into force generated different expectations in some indigenous organizations, mainly due to its binding character for the state and because it includes, among other aspects, consultations to indigenous peoples concerning issues that may affect them. This article claims that the ratification and implementation of ILO Convention 169 must be understood in terms of cultural differences; assumed late and superficially by the Chilean state due to the neoliberal multicultural model implemented in Latin America during the last three decades. Thus, and almost one decade after the entry into force of this international convention, an evaluation of its implementation is carried out taking into account the perspectives and points of view of Mapuche Williche leaders, who warn about the weaknesses of the recognition of rights, and also express the limits of the "Chilean version" of neoliberal multiculturalism in terms of breaking the historical and current subordination and power structures that affect the indigenous peoples.