El Ciudadano
Original article: Se les acabó la fiesta: entregan 250 mil firmas a Natalia Duco para quitar apoyo estatal al rodeo
The organization Animal Libre delivered 250,000 citizen signatures to Sports Minister Natalia Duco in an effort to have rodeo removed from the list of recognized sports and to eliminate all forms of state support, recognition, and funding for this practice.
The campaign, under the slogan #NotASport, successfully gathered hundreds of thousands of supporters through Change.org, marking one of the largest public mobilizations for animal rights in Chile, specifically challenging the treatment of animals in rodeos.
According to the organization, this signature delivery serves not merely as a procedural act, but as a political statement aimed at holding the government accountable.
“This delivery represents more than just numbers; it is the voice of over 250,000 individuals clearly stating that rodeo does not align with their values and that they do not want it to continue receiving public support or financing,” stated Mauricio Serrano, founder of Animal Libre.
The NGO highlighted that there is evidence of a cultural shift in the country regarding how citizens perceive rodeo, something that the state cannot overlook.
According to data revealed by surveys from Criteria, 75% of individuals feel little or no identification with rodeo, while 63% believe this practice should not be classified as a sport.
Additionally, 61% of the populace supports the elimination of any state funding for rodeo. These figures, the organization emphasized, reflect that the government has the responsibility to respond to this public demand and ensure that the activities it promotes align with principles of respect, ethics, and welfare.
“Today, we are taking a significant step by bringing this concern directly to the authorities. We hope the Ministry of Sports listens to the public and moves towards ending institutional support for a widely questioned practice,” Serrano said in a press release.
Rodeo Is Not a National Sport
It is worth noting that the delivery of the 250,000 signatures to Duco came after Animal Libre members criticized the Minister of Sports in late March, accusing her of lying by defining rodeo as a «national sport».
At that time, the NGO was clear: “Minister of Sports Natalia Duco is lying by stating that rodeo is a national sport. In Chile, the only sport recognized by law is ‘rayuela’.”
To support this claim, they recalled that in 2017, during Michelle Bachelet’s second presidency, the then Minister of Sports, Pablo Squella, officially clarified that no such nomenclature exists in the current legal framework and that only ‘rayuela’ has been recognized as a national sport through Law No. 20.777, enacted in 2014.
This law also enabled the promotion of rayuela as a cultural heritage and its access to state funding.
The controversy arose after the Secretary of State accompanied President José Antonio Kast at the closure of the 77th National Rodeo Championship, held at the Medialuna Monumental in Rancagua.
At this event, Duco stated that rodeo is “a national sport” and expressed her willingness to create a joint agenda with the federation to promote its strengthening.
“Let’s start working together, let’s do things,” she affirmed, justifying her support by referencing her family connections. “My brother-in-law competes every weekend, and it’s thanks to them I’ve been able to get to know this more closely, from the family perspective of what rodeo really entails,” she noted.
Following the submission of the 250,000 citizen signatures, the ball is now in the court of the Kast administration, which must decide whether to address the public’s demand or continue supporting and financing a practice that is rejected by thousands of Chileans.
Animal Libre emphasized that the campaign #NotASport is still active and extended an invitation for more people to get informed and join this citizen mobilization.
La entrada Petition of 250,000 Signatures Presented to Sports Minister to Withdraw State Support for Rodeo se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.
🔥 Ver noticia completa en ElCiudadano.cl 🔥
