Rosende denies link between Mapuche cause and farmer's murder

SANTIAGO.- The Minister of Interior, Patricio Rosende, has ruled out that the La Araucanía Region murder of farmer Erwin Schmidt is linked to the Mapuche conflict and has assured that all evidence indicates that the man was a victim of a robbery.

"There have been robberies of this nature in many other areas. I have a hard time attributing this act to the uprising of some subversive group or anything of the sort".

Although Rosende affirmed that authorities will continue to investigate the crime, the minister stated that "all of the characteristics of the case indicate that this was a robbery that had apparently been planned because the target was the man's monthly wages".

Despite the fact that the incident has been deemed an "opportune crime", Rosende also indicated that measures will be doubled in an effort to maintain public order and safety in the region stating, "the problem is that in La Araucanía people tend to immediately attribute this kind of incident to the Mapuche ethnicity".