Abstract

The Patagonia is the last of the major unpopulated regions of Latin America, and its western zone, which belongs to Chile, is the most isolated one. In this article, some of the research outcomes are exposed, specifically the secular tension that this zone maintains with the absent Chilean State central administration. Relation that has rendered western Chilean Patagonia at the margin of integration due to deficient territorial management policies and of colonization. Summarily, two recent and emblematic social conflicts are described, which consequences on territorial management in the zone will mark the coming years from two fundamental axes: the ecological and sustainable priority of any development project, and the rising of increasing levels of local protagonism in the region. Methodologically, this article corresponds to a study case with multisituated ethnographies and supported by secondary information.