Consequences of Chilean Neoliberal Policy on Rural Territories: A Case Study of the Rise in Land Transactions in the Commune of Hualaihué (Los Lagos Region)

Chile’s economic development model, which was shattered by the military coup, restructured under the dictatorship, and institutionalised under democracy as a neoliberal model, gave rise to a liberalisation process that affects the country’s natural resources and commercial dynamics and, by extension, places society itself at the service of the system. This model, enshrined in the 1980 Political Constitution, was founded on the principles of external openness, private investment, and deregulation. Against this backdrop, this paper examines and analyses the impact of strengthening private ownership over tangible assets on the increase in land transactions in the rural commune of Hualaihué. The research, based on a quantitative and qualitative analysis of land ownership records from 2005, 2015, 2021, and 2022, as well as information from 23 semi-structured interviews with different territorial stakeholders, reveals the impact of territorial commodification in the area of study. The results indicate that the sale of rural land, the increase in land sales, and the reduction in the size of plots acquired since 2021 constitute an emerging and latent problem, which confirms that rural land is undergoing a subdivision process that presents urban development characteristics in certain parts of the commune. This needs to be critically examined to develop urgent, comprehensive planning dynamics, thereby reducing emerging socio-territorial conflicts.