Both Chile and the Mapuche people are going through a period of great political turmoil. Chile’s Constitutional Convention is working on the drafting of a new constitution for the South American country, which is scheduled to be ready in 2022. The new supreme law will replace the current one, which dates back to the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. The Convention, with a left-wing majority and chaired by Mapuche academic Elisa Loncón, is struggling to coexist with a Congress of Deputies dominated by the right. At the behest of Chile’s conservative president, Sebastián Piñera, the Congress extended earlier in November a state of emergency in four provinces in the heart of Wallmapu (as the Mapuche call their land) which had been decreed by Piñera himself on 12 October. Keep reading

This year marks the 20th anniversary of a low-intensity conflict in North Macedonia that was the last in a string of wars ravaging the Western Balkans at the end of the 20th century. The conflict lasted less than a year, in 2001, and pitted the Albanian and Macedonian communities —25 per cent and 65 per cent of the population— against each other. The spiral of violence was halted because the US and the EU promptly intervened and helped broker an agreement that, while ambiguous, satisfied the actors involved. The Ohrid Accords thus granted basic rights to the Albanians, and allowed the Macedonians to avoid a war they could lose. In return, the deal left a bitter aftertaste in one of the parties: the Macedonian people, who despite being the country’s majority, could not find a formula that helped them enforce their vision of how the rest of the communities in Macedonia should be integrated. Fuelled by politicians who continue to profit from the ethnic divide, the gap between the two communities resonates in and is widened by stereotypes circulating in segregated neighbourhoods, bars, and schools in the country’s main cities. Keep reading

After four decades of demanding it, the Asturian language movement says official status is now closer than ever. Indeed, the Statute of Autonomy of Asturias is currently undergoing an amendment process that may lead to such a recognition —which, only 10 years ago, seemed unlikely. Last weekend’s demonstration in Oviedo, with tens of thousands demanding official status for Asturian, is proof of the popular support for the demand. But how sure is it that this has been the last demonstration for official status, as organising grassroots movement Xunta pola Defensa de la Llingua Asturiana claims? Which parties support it? What reactions —including virulent ones— is this provoking among opponents? We speak to Xunta spokesperson Xosé Candel and Inaciu Galán, spokesperson for another civil society group, Iniciativa pol Asturianu. Keep reading

The detention conditions of a pro-independence activist who risks dying in prison are the tip of the iceberg of a recent escalation in West Papua’s conflict. Papuans are protesting the undermining of a devolution package that they already considered to be insufficient, Indonesian forces continue to suppress demonstrations —with racist abuse making the picture even worse—, while clashes pitting the army against an armed pro-independence organisation have claimed the lives of several fighters. Keep reading

The Moldovan Republic of Pridnestrovie, also known as Transnistria, is the epitome of the unrecognised state. It has almost everything that is expected of a state: a controlled territory, defined borders, a stable population, its own passport, currency... But it lacks legitimisation from other states. Currently it is only recognised as such by Artsakh —internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, but inhabited and controlled by Armenians—, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia —both recognised as part of Georgia. All three are in a similar situation and are part of the Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations. In the centre of Transnistrian capital Tiraspol, all these flags can be seen flying over the De Wollant Park. Keep reading