Easter Island Tense as Police, Rapa Nui regroup – Swat Teams!

Associated Press
By Michael Warren

A military plane carrying riot police reinforcements landed on Easter Island Saturday, and Chile’s Interior Minister said they will continue evicting Rapa Nui islanders who have been squatting in government buildings built on their ancestral properties.

Dozens of people were wounded by police buckshot and batons after violently resisting the first such eviction on Friday on the usually tranquil South Pacific island, where as many as 50,000 tourists come each year to see the Moai – huge stone heads carved by the Rapa Nui’s ancestors.

Documentary filmmaker Santi Hitorangi, who dug 14 pellets from his backside after police shot him while he videotaped the clash, said the atmosphere remained tense on Saturday, with families squatting in a dozen other properties refusing to back down despite the police pressure.

“The arrival of the C-130 cargo plane with more police and armed swat teams adds to the psychological duress that’s happening here,” Hitorangi told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

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