Aylén Tapia
Argentina
Debt and democracy
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Aylén Tapia (29 years) is a Mapuche-Telhueche from Leufuche territory, on the banks of the Curru Leuvu River, in what is now the province of Río Negro, Argentina. She grew up in the countryside, in close contact with her land, learning from her parents and grandparents. In her teens, she moved to Carmen de Patagones to study music and became involved in the Mapuche-Tehuelche community organisation, the reclamation of identity, and resisting the expansion of the oil and extractive industries. Her story is also underscored by repression and criminalisation. |
In 2017, while accompanying the Lafken Winkul Mapu community, she was arrested and tortured during a violent operation in which Rafael Nahuel was killed. After years of legal persecution, she and other Mapuche women were convicted in 2024. Currently, Aylén works as a high school teacher, promoting intercultural environmental education programmes, and continues to organise against extractive projects that threaten her territory, amongst them a oil megahub, gas pipelines, and LNG tankers.