Héctor Llaitul

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Héctor Javier Llaitul Carrillanca (born November 19, 1967 in Osorno, Chile) is a Mapuche-Huilliche activist and the leader of the armed group Coordinadora Arauco-Malleco (CAM), known as "Comandante Héctor" or "El Negro." He studied social work at the University of Concepción, joined the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR) as a student, and later the Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front (FPMR) during Pinochet’s dictatorship.

Llaitul helped form CAM after conflicts over the Ralco Hydroelectric Plant and related Mapuche disputes. CAM has conducted violent actions, timber theft, and attacks on authorities in Chile’s Araucanía region. He has faced multiple criminal cases: arrested in 2007, partially acquitted in 2008, and in 2010 was sentenced to 25 years for robbery with intimidation and attempted homicide of a prosecutor (a sentence later reduced to 14 years). Since 2022 he has been in prison on charges of timber theft and violations of the State Security Law tied to arson attacks, and in May 2022 Parliament declared CAM and allied groups illegal terrorist organizations. In April 2024 he was found guilty of all charges (including incitement to violence, use of firearms, violent occupation, timber theft, and attacks on authorities) and on May 7, 2024 was sentenced to 23 years in prison and fined about 26 UTM. He is married to Pamela Pezoa Matus and has four children. Llaitul has criticized the government and the Communist Party, and in May 2024 began a hunger strike demanding a review of his trial.