Mapuche leader Machi Celestino enters 73rd day of hunger strike

Mapuche's people spiritual advisor (Machi) Celestino Cordova called on people to continue to fight for Indigenous rights in Chile, even in the event of his death. The Machi has been on hunger strike for 73 days.

Machi Celestino Cordova said: "If I die, don't let your guard down. Keep fighting until our ancestral Mapuche territory is returned to us."

After 73 days on hunger strike he has lost over 20 kilograms of weight and suffers from bradycardia and permanent hypotension.

"His life is in danger and time is running out," Cordova's doctor Leonor Olate said on her Twitter account.

This Mapuche leader, who is serving an 18-year prison sentence, is the only one charged with the murder of the Luchsinger-Mackay couple in a 2013 arson fire. 

Chile's police found Cordova on the day of the events less than 2 kilometers away from the Luchsinger-Mackay farm with a gunshot wound. With no solid evidence, they assumed that he was involved in the attack.

Cordova began a hunger strike after his imprisonment to demand the Indigenous people and their inmates' rights to be respected.