Neltume, Chile

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Region	Los Ríos
Neltume
Province	Valdivia
Municipalidad	Panguipulli
Comuna	Panguipulli
Government
- Type	Municipalidad
- Alcade	Alejandro Kohler
Population (2002 census[1])
- Total	2,125
Time zone	Chilean Standard (UTC-4 hours)
- Summer (DST)	Chilean Daylight (UTC-3 hours)
Area code(s)	Country + town = 56 + ?

Neltume is a Chilean town in Panguipulli's commune, of Los Ríos Region. It lies along the route to Huahum Pass into Argentina. The town's main economic activities are forestry and, more recently, tourism since the Huilo-Huilo Biological Reserve was created in 1999.

[edit] The Neltume Guerrilla

During the military regime in Chile the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR in Spanish) drew up plans for a popular guerrilla war in southern Chile. They sought to create a focus of resistance inspired by the Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement in the Sierra Maestra. The area of Neltume was chosen due to the presence of an indigenous Mapuche population and "a large and explosive rural proletariat" among the sawmill workers of Neltume. It was also considered convenient that the place was close to the cities of Valdivia, Temuco and Osorno.^[1]

In the 12th July of 1980 the MIR sent the first unit of its newly-formed guerrilla group into the mountainous area around Neltume. Most of the guerrillas had been detained in 1973 following the 1973 Chilean coup d'état and had to enter illegally into Chile from their exile countries aboard. The foco was discovered by the authorities in July of 1981 when it had been active for less than one year. The Chilean army succeeded in isolating the group by August of 1981 and in October of the same year its last members were captured. Three guerrillas are claimed to have been captured, tortured and executed. Another six died in combat and during ambushes. Two more were captured in neighboring areas in Argentina, and were transferred to Chile in accordance with Operation Condor.^[1]