SALTA, Argentina. The indigenous community of Misión Kilómetro 2, located in the Rivadavia department in the northeast of Salta province, is experiencing days of sadness and unrest following the femicide of a 12-year-old girl. She had been missing since Wednesday the 12th. Her body was found three days later with a cut to her neck, among some weeds beside National Route 81.

The following day, a teenager from this community, which is part of the Wichí Nation, the largest indigenous group in the province, was arrested. The 17-year-old was identified as the girl's boyfriend.

The teenager was placed at the disposal of the Juvenile Court on duty during the judicial recess in the city of Tartagal, after prosecutor Gonzalo Vega declared himself incompetent to continue the investigation. The reason, according to the Salta Public Prosecutor's Office , is that the alleged aggressor is a minor.

The suspicion of family and friends

For the community, the matter is not clarified by the mere arrest of this teenager, because they are convinced that more people were involved.

The suspicion stems from the addiction problems that have plagued the populations, especially the indigenous communities, of northern Salta for years. In this case, the location where the body was found—near a roadside rest stop where, according to locals, drug and alcohol use is common—adds further suspicion. Young people and teenagers from the community and visitors from nearby towns frequent this spot. They also indicate that truck drivers often stop there and offer money in exchange for sex.

That's why the community president, Raúl Manuel, told Presentes that they are asking for "a thorough investigation by the justice system." "Many come from outside, from Morillo or Dragones, " said. He maintained that some are members of other Indigenous communities and others are non-Indigenous residents.

The legal situation

Pamela's body was released late Monday, but there are still no updates regarding the autopsy. The family has had no contact with either the Public Prosecutor's Office or the court handling the case.

“We are asking for justice. All I want is justice. I understand that this is not the first time these cases have happened here,” said Tomás Roberto Flores, Pamela’s father.

The man asked that the situation be publicized so that it doesn't happen again in any community. “I don't want anyone to go through what I'm going through today. My daughter was 12 years old, with her whole life ahead of her. We need more security, more support from the government,” he said.

Flores is the only member of the family making public statements. The mother does not have a cell phone and, through Germán Vildoza, stated that she does not wish to make any statements.

Vildoza is part of the NGO De la mano por el mundo , which is currently working with the Misión Kilómetro 2 community and is collaborating (at the community's request) with the dissemination of everything related to Pamela's femicide.

The place

The first houses in the community are about 50 meters from Route 81.

Kilometer 2 owes its name to the distance that separates it from the nearest village, Pluma de Pato Coronel Juan Solá is called in the area ).

All these towns are located along Route 81. They have been insisting on the problems they face due to the increase in drug use among young people, teenagers, and even children.

Manuel says that marijuana, crack cocaine, alcoholic beverages, and cheaper substances are consumed: “pure alcohol” (ethyl alcohol used for disinfection) and naphtha, which is inhaled. The chiefs of the communities in this area have already denounced the increase in these substances and the violence they generate.

 “Almost abandoned”

Pamela Julia Flores had six half-siblings. She lived with them in the same community, under the care of an older sister, 22 years old. Her mother and father are separated; her mother lives in another community 30 kilometers away, and her father, Roberto Flores, resides in the town of Embarcación , where he works as a day laborer on a rural farm.

The shock over his death led to a community meeting on Sunday, with the intention of holding a march that was ultimately postponed pending further investigation.

The community is saying that the little girl, whose body was seen by her siblings and the neighbor who found it, was the victim of a sexual assault. This has not been officially confirmed because the autopsy report is still pending.

On the same day the body was found, Flores demanded a thorough investigation into his daughter's murder to ensure "there are no more victims." Both he and the community president emphasized the lack of security measures in the area.

The State that is never there

Manuel emphasized the lack of attention from the State. “We always turn to the authorities, and they often take a long time to respond.”

“Sometimes in the communities, a girl is tricked by a man who convinces her with lies. So we go to the police (reporting) that the girl is in such and such a place. We want police support, but it takes a long time,” the community leader explained. He added that they tell them they're going to come, but then they don't. “We have to beg them to help us. We're practically abandoned here on Route 81,” he concluded.

When help arrived, it was interrupted.

The sharp increase in addictions led the provincial government to open a social and health center in Morillo in 2018, a place designed to provide support to children and adolescents.

Manuel pointed out that the promoters offered an alternative for children, but "since the pandemic started it stopped working."

The needs endured by the inhabitants of this community became more exposed when Pamela's father had to ask for help to pay for his daughter's funeral.

After it was reported that Pamela's family was not receiving assistance, the provincial government reported that the Ministry of Social Development accompanied the family in the process for the delivery of the body, that together with the municipality of Morillo they gave them the coffin and that they brought "basic necessities".

However, hours later, the community denied this aid. “We categorically deny the information published on the official government website which states that the victim's family was and is being assisted.

“So far, only personnel from Indigenous Affairs were present in the community yesterday, January 17, when the girl’s lifeless body was found on Saturday the 15th,” the text says.

“Indigenous Affairs officials delivered groceries, diapers, bread, and pastries to the mother’s family. They were present for approximately one hour, then—when it began to rain—they left the area.”

In the statement, they also condemned the actions of Sandra Ruiz, from the Indigenous Affairs Office of the Province of Salta. “She was present at the site with the aim of discrediting the actions of our organization (who, at the request of the family and the community, are in the area providing support during this difficult time),” they stated.

“Finally, we want to make it clear that neither the victim’s family nor the community has received mattresses, donations or merchandise because what we seek here is dignity, it is justice for Pamela.”

The (non) exit from the study

Last December, Pamela finished primary school. She planned to start secondary school this year at the annex located in the primary school building in the same community, which consists of about 140 families who live mainly from selling handicrafts.

There are not many alternatives for subsistence in this area of ​​the Salta Chaco region, and in these circumstances, many young people and teenagers see an escape in their studies.

But the vast majority fail to access higher education due to economic reasons. For example, two years ago, 25 students finished high school, but none were able to access college or university.

The nearest college is 25 kilometers away, in Morillo. Besides having the resources to pay for rent, food, and tuition, fear also acts as a limiting factor. “There are a lot of traffic accidents on Route 81,” Raúl Manuel said.

He recalled that, as president of the community, he “always” sent letters requesting that a tertiary annex be opened in his community. “We have never received a response.”

They are also demanding access to healthcare. There is a health center in the community, but only one nurse is there for about four hours a day, some days of the week.

In Pluma de Pato there is 24-hour care at a health center, and the women of the community walk two kilometers with their children in their arms to receive care.

State abandonment

The crime also provoked a reaction from women's organizations, already shaken by the death, three days earlier (on January 12), of an 18-year-old pregnant young woman, Aldana Quico, also a member of the Wichí Nation People.

She died while receiving treatment at the Juan Domingo Perón Hospital in the city of Tartagal. Her family alleged medical malpractice.  

These organizations stated that these deaths “are not isolated incidents, but rather are part of an abandonment by the Provincial State of a clerical, Opus Dei, colonizing, patriarchal administration that considers the members of the native peoples as fourth-class citizens, as forgotten beings of the earth.”

They also called for “denouncing these ethnic crimes – femicides – at the international level, particularly when the Provincial State signed an agreement with UN Women through the Spotlight program .