Banditry (Spanish: bandidaje) was a considerable phenomenon in 19th century and early 20th century Central Chile and Araucanía. Many bandits achieved legendary status for their brutality and others for being regarded folk heroes.[1] The bandits usually preyed on haciendas and their inquilinos.[1]
The Chilean War of Independence (1810–1826) shaped an era of banditry as the war transitioned into irregular warfare known as Guerra a muerte (1819–1821) which was particularly destructive for the Biobío area and ended only to see a period of outlaw banditry occur until the late 1820s.[2] The rise of banditry made travel dangerous; indeed, 1812 is held as the date from where travel between Concepción and Santiago was not longer safe for small groups.[3] The Pincheira brothers, a royalist outlaw group based on indigenous territory east of the Andes, was defeated and dissolved in 1832.[4]
In the words of Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna, banditry was a "national plague, worse than lepra or cholera."[3] Following Chilean victories in the War of the Pacific against Peru, veterans begun to return in 1881, leading to a surge in banditry.[4] The return of the veterans coincided with the Chilean Army's crushing of Mapuche resistance during the Occupation of Araucanía (1861–1883). This allowed opportunities for bandits and veterans-turned-bandits to immigrate to the newly opened Araucanía territory,[5][4] leading to sudden rise in violence in a region that was recovering from Chilean-Mapuche warfare.[6] Bandits that immigrated to Araucanía allied with displaced Mapuche and made cattle theft their chief business.[5] Stolen cattle was sold in marketplaces through the region.[5]
Thus Araucanía continued to be an insecure zone for many years.[6] Assaults and robbery were common in the region.[7] Because of this until the 1920s carbines, revolvers, and other firearms were common in the households of Araucanía.[7] Banditry in Araucanía and Central Chile began to be suppressed in the late 19th century with the creation of the rural police Cuerpo de Gendarmes para las Colonias, a predecessor to Chile's main police force Carabineros de Chile.[1] Hernán Trizano led this policing force until 1905.[8]
