Violent eviction of the Lafken Winkul Mapu community in Río Negro: those detained are women and children.
They report that at least eight people were arrested, all women and some children.
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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina. Tear gas, rubber bullets, and 200 National Gendarmerie officers evacuated the Mapuche community of Villa Mascardi (45 kilometers from Bariloche, Río Negro).
During the violent and excessive operation that began around 7:30 a.m., at least eight people were arrested. All of them were women, along with some children.
It was the first action by the Unified Command of security forces, which was officially announced in the early hours of Tuesday in the Official Gazette.
The operation is being led by Judge Silvina Domínguez, who, as a first step, ordered the investigation to be kept secret. Therefore, as of midday, not even the number of detainees was clear.
Presentes learned from journalist Santiago Rey—who was in the area just hours after the operation began—that "eight detainees were seen from a distance, all women. Three or four minors, some of them babies, were also seen. "
Until after noon, the explosions could be heard from Route 40.
“We were emptied into our homes”
Machi Betiana Colhuan is the community's highest spiritual authority. She described the eviction via audio. "We were forcibly evicted from the territory this morning with the children, a one-month-old baby, a four-month-old baby, and a pregnant woman. We were forced out of our own homes. Forcibly removed with our babies," she said.
"We are now detained in the territory and are going to be transferred to Bariloche. We have been beaten and mistreated, and there are children missing in the mountains. We are informed that there are orders to shoot with live ammunition. The situation here is very serious."
For her part, Mapuche leader Soraya MaIcoño explained, "I was just able to communicate with the Pu Lamngen, who are 'delayed,' detained outside on the road. They are in a very desperate situation because there are Pichis sheltering with their ñukes in the fields, in the mountains. Motorcycles are coming up with armed individuals, and a lot of gunfire can be heard."
“Our Pu Lamngen are asking for mobilization. Some kind of mobilization should be carried out in Bariloche and in all possible territories. But let it be known that those at serious risk right now are the Pichis. They are protected, but unfortunately, they are not being treated with any kind of consideration. They are entering on motorcycles armed, and many gunshots can be heard,” he described in his statements.
They ask for access to information
During the first hours of the operation, the secrecy of the investigation prevented the lawyers from accessing the information, according to the Lawyers' Association.
"Today, we were just made aware of an action by federal troops against Winkul, and, given the data and information available, we assess that such actions are unlikely to be relevant in any of the cases we are involved in. We would have been made aware of it," they explained in a statement posted on social media.
"We thus communicated directly with the federal judge in Bariloche, requesting information. Dr. Domínguez confirmed that she is in charge of the operation. She also informed us that the actions are not part of any of the cases in which the Union is involved."
“We are awaiting more information,” he continued. “It is clear that, in the face of the right-wing operation mounted these past few days, with direct actions in the conflict-affected territory to incriminate community members, they have been successful. The right has been planning this move for some time through the Consenso Bariloche group, headed by Patricia Bullrich. Bullrich traveled to Bariloche to complete the task she began in 2017 with the brutal repression that led to the murder of Rafita Nahuel.”
A desperate plea
From different parts of the south, Mapuche communities expressed their solidarity and support for the evicted community.
“We're worried about the pu lagmen because there are little boys and girls. There are newborn babies, a mother due to give birth in the next few days, so what's happening is extremely serious because our pu lagmen are going to allow us to be evicted just like that,” explains one of the women from the community. “So, I'm afraid this could turn into another situation like what happened with Rafa, Santiago, or Elías. This is an urgent, dramatic call. Please mobilize, I don't know, to the Río Negro House, the Casa Rosada, somewhere, or hold some kind of demonstration. We can't lose another life. So, whatever support is within the reach of the organizations that make up this group would be important.”
The voices of the people
Various indigenous communities in Río Negro, Chubut, and Neuquén issued a statement in support of the Lafken Winkul Mapu, reflecting the tense situation in Villa Mascardi.
"From the ancestral territory of the Nahuelpan community, in the El Bolsón region, we want to express our solidarity with the community," they stated in a statement.
They indicated that they decided to speak out in response to what they describe as "the advance of violent supremacist groups that constantly intimidate and stigmatize the Tehuelche Mapuche nation in general."
For its part, Werken Carriqueo published an “Urgent Letter to Adolfo Perez Esquivel,” Nobel Peace Prize winner from Argentina.
“In my capacity as Werken, on behalf of and representing the Mapuche Tehuelche Parliament of Río Negro, a political and representative organization of more than 160 Mapuche Tehuelche communities in Río Negro, I am writing to you urgently to ask you to intercede on behalf of the Human Rights of the Mapuche Lafken Winkul Mapu community, which is being evicted by a Unified Command of Federal Forces. There are two months-old babies in the territory, more girls and boys, and a pregnant woman about to give birth. The sad precedents of the Prefecture, which murdered Rafael Nahuel in the back, lead us to suspect a very complex situation (…) Taking up arms against a People who are fighting to live with dignity, as is our right in these lands, is an infamy that can only result in grave losses,” the letter states, among other things.
Without dialogue
The Legal and Social Center of Argentina lamented that the government cut off dialogue in 2020 and recounted the events in a Twitter thread.
For her part, Moira Millan, of the Indigenous Women's Movement for Good Living, stated, "Racializing categories are being used to justify dispossession, looting, and death. Hate speech is uttered brazenly and without any filter. Because colonial republics have domesticated their peoples to the point of complete unconsciousness. This allows for so much aggression against the Mapuche Nation. The militarization of our territories, the persecution, the imprisonment, the destruction of our sacred spaces, and even the abhorrent persecution of our pichikeche (children)."
The conflict
The land conflict in Villa Mascardi, located 35 kilometers south of Bariloche, worsened in 2017 during the Mauricio Macri administration, which systematically persecuted the Mapuche community.
According to government sources, weeks ago, unknown hooded individuals set fire to a mobile Gendarmerie post set up in Villa Mascardi to guard a property that had been vandalized in early August in an incident that is under investigation.
That was the reason why the formation of units to carry out this operation was ordered.
What does the government's provision say?
The national government, through the Official Gazette, established the legal status of the actors involved in this operation.
"The Unified Security Command for the Villa Mascardi area, assigned to the management and inter-force coordination of crime prevention activities in the town of Villa Mascardi, Bariloche, Río Negro Province, will assist in any judicial proceedings that may be ordered, in order to secure the people and property of the town, in its role as an auxiliary to the organs of the justice system and under the coordination of the Secretariat of Security and Criminal Policy."
In its second article, the text states, "The Unified Security Command for the Villa Mascardi area will be comprised of the Argentine Federal Police, the Argentine National Gendarmerie, the Argentine Naval Prefecture, and the Airport Security Police. The designated officials will have, within the scope of their duties, decision-making authority over the personnel and resources assigned to the security operation."
"The Unified Security Command for the Villa Mascardi area will be dissolved upon the determination of its Coordination and will have its operational headquarters in the city of Bariloche, Río Negro province."
Article 4 of the nine-article provision states, "The General Coordination of the Unified Security Command in the Villa Mascardi Zone will be exercised by the Secretariat of Security and Criminal Policy of the Ministry of Security, which will be responsible for leading the police forces and security forces assigned to the operation."
Cover photo: Originario.ar
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