Some 70 Carabineros and federal police investigators raided several homes in Ercilla located in Chile’s southern region of Araucania early Monday morning arresting six unnamed residents.

Local media says mayor Jose Vilugron, a member of President Piñera’s right-wing National Renovation party, gave the go-ahead for the arrests of the Mapuche community members, as well as permission to militarize the zone.

Indigenous Mapuche leaders have been blocking major highways in Arauncia since late December demanding justice for the Carabinero murder of Indigenous 24-year-old Camilo Catrillanca on Nov. 14. Demonstrators in the region are calling for Carabineros to leave the now militarized region, a promise that President Sebastian Piñera made in December but has yet to keep.