Venancio Coñuepán Huenchual

Venancio Coñuepán Huenchual (25 December 1905 – 30 April 1968), also known as Venancio Coñoepan, was a Chilean farmer and politician of Mapuche origin.

He served as Minister of Lands and Colonization under President Carlos Ibáñez del Campo, becoming the first Indigenous minister of state in the country's history.

Family and education Coñuepán was born in Piuchén, Cautín Province, on 25 December 1905, the son of Domingo Coñuepán and Antonia Huenchual. In 1938, he founded the Corporación Araucana, which absorbed the Sociedad Caupolicán.

Political career Aligned with ibañismo, Coñuepán presided over the Popular Freedom Alliance in Cautín Province and was elected deputy in the 1945 Chilean parliamentary election for the 21st Departmental Group (Temuco, Lautaro, Imperial, Pitrufquén, Villarrica). He served until 1952, integrating the Agriculture and Colonization Commission.

On 3 November 1952, President Carlos Ibáñez del Campo appointed him Minister of Lands and Colonization, a post he held until April 1953. He was succeeded in Congress through a by-election by Sergio Merino Jarpa (PDC).

Legacy Historians such as José Ancán have described him as the most influential Mapuche politician of contemporary Chile, noting that never again did Mapuche leaders hold as much political power as during his time with the Corporación Araucana.