Chile Forum

I'm new to this forum, living near Seattle , Washington USA. My wife is from Chile, we met in 2000 and returned here in August of 2001 to the US to sell my property and return to Chile permanently. 9/11 happened, my work in Chile disappeared and so we are still here getting ready to go back.
My question is about property rights for land(5 hectares) near Chillan we purchased for retirement that has been left fairly unimproved. We did build a small cabin /barn. planted trees and improved the road. Our local caretaker died and although we have had Claudias's family visit every 6 months, we have had to evict one set of squatters and on the last trip one of the locals told my brother-in-law that because the "owner" had not been there for 7 years that the property could be taken. What can be done to legally protect our ownership rights. The land is actually in my wife's name and we went thru the notary process and all the contracts and have the required 50 stamps from every clerk in Region 7. Do we have to officially visit each property?
Thanks in advance

To be honest this is the first time that I hear something like that and smell fishing, I think somebody is trying to take some advantage, get na lawyer. For more that I think in that sound like bullshit, any way your wife family had been there so that property it is not alone.