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LOF LAFKEN WINKUL MAPU/Villa Mascardi (Río Negro). Yesterday, an on-site inspection was conducted in the territory where the Mapuche community of Lof Lafken Winkul Mapu settled, where young Rafael Nahue on November 25, 2017. As part of the trial for his death —five members of the Albatros Group of the Argentine Naval Prefecture are accused—judges, witnesses, and some of the accused toured the area, from Route 40 to the scene of the fatal shooting. A group of women from the community accompanied them, including the machi Betiana Colhuán Nahuel (Rafael's cousin). With a huge police presence, the delegation entered the area around 11 a.m. and spent six hours patrolling it.

The inspection took place two days after the national elections, in which Patricia Bullrich was one of the candidates and finished third, behind Massa and Milei. At the time of Rafael Nahuel's murder, Bullrich was Minister of Security in Mauricio Macri's administration. 

Furthermore, a week ago, at the end of the Plurinational Meeting of Women and Dissidents, held in Bariloche (35 km from here), more than a hundred people marched in a caravan to the Lof Winkul Mapu for a symbolic embrace of the struggle to defend their territory. Holding the meeting in Bariloche was a consensus among feminist movements to support the struggle of Mapuche women who had been imprisoned for a year.

130 bullets with intent to kill

Bullrich's Ministry of Security has always maintained the theory that there was an armed confrontation. And not only that: even the initial charge filed by the court was for "homicide in excess of self-defense." As the trial progresses, evidence refutes this hypothesis.

Mariano Przybylski, National Director of Policies against Institutional Violence at the Secretariat of Human Rights and representing the agency as a plaintiff, agreed: “We went to trial and said that there was a chase with gunfire up the mountain, with community members running and five prefects firing at least 130 lead bullets at them with the intent to kill. We brought that to trial. Throughout the trial, we corroborated all of these facts. We were able to experience it here today. We saw where the first shots started, marked by the collection of the shell casings. We continued climbing and saw where it ended. We saw it on the ground, and the court saw it,” he told Presentes.

During the tour, those present on November 25, 2017—both defendants and witnesses—gave their accounts of what happened. Only two of the defendants, Juan Ramón Obregón and Sergio Damián García, participated in the proceedings. The other three, Sergio Guillermo Cavia, Francisco Javier Pintos, and Carlos Alberto Sosa, did not attend. 

Three witnesses to the shooting have already testified at the trial, and all of them participated: Johana Colhuán Nahuel, Rafael's cousin, who was also shot in the shoulder that day. And Fausto Jones Huala and Lautaro González Curruhuinca, who brought Rafael down the mountain in search of medical help (although he died on the way). 

Presentes asked both of them about the day. Jones Huala responded, “Rough. It’s very hard to walk that path and have to listen to the prefects lie. But we were able to tell how it all happened.” González Curruhuinca added, “They contradict each other all the time.”  

During yesterday's inspection, upon arriving at the site where Rafael fell, they were the first to walk past and point it out. When the rest of the group, who had been walking more slowly (they had to climb about a kilometer and a half along a steep path through a dense forest), finally arrived, it was confirmed: the marked location perfectly matched the geolocated coordinates obtained during the inspection immediately following the incident.

At the end of the inspection (the media was unable to enter), the prosecution in this trial, which is being held before the Federal Oral Court (TOF) of General Roca/Fiske Menuco, expressed satisfaction. Prosecutor Rafael Vehils Ruíz stated: "What we were looking for is exactly what we got. The prosecutor's office has a theory of the case, and this on-site inspection helped us. For the Public Prosecutor's Office, it was an extremely positive and important step for the case."

“The accused stepped on each other’s toes”

María Nahuel, Rafael's aunt and Johana's mother, told Presentes what her daughter told her: "She says they stepped on each other a lot. They said things that weren't true. Back then, when Rafita was murdered, there were no houses; there were just tents. And they said there were houses, wire fences. The houses were built later... They were lying. They stepped on each other's toes. One said there was a house here, and the other said there wasn't. They said all kinds of things."

Regarding the differences between the testimonies, prosecutor Vehils Ruíz pointed out something important: “Of course, each one gave their version of the events. It must be taken into account that the witnesses were under oath, while the defendants were not. Everyone knows that it's a right to defense; they can say whatever they want, they can lie, and nothing can be said to them about it. This is not the case with the witnesses, who are under oath to tell the truth if they lie, and there would be criminal consequences.” 

Moments of tension

The procedure was heavily patrolled, with over 100 officers from the Federal Police, Airport Security Police, and the National Gendarmerie. Route 40 was closed throughout the day. Cars traveling between Bariloche and El Bolsón were escorted by patrol cars in groups that occasionally passed through Villa Mascardi. Only judicial and police personnel, attorneys for the parties, witnesses, and the defendants were allowed into the area. 

When the entire delegation arrived, a tense situation arose, as more community members wanted to enter the property. The community was violently evicted on October 4, 2022. Seven women and their children were arrested there, and four of them remained under house arrest for eight months .

That detention ended with a roundtable discussion with the National Secretariat of Human Rights on June 1, when an agreement was signed that brought them closer to freedom, as they were finally released . It was also agreed that machi Betiana Colhuán Nahuel could return to the rewe (ceremonial site), however, this has not yet been finalized.

The machi claims the ceremonial space

Yesterday, machi Betiana, along with her mother, María Nahuel, her two children, and other community members, requested entry to the rewe to remain there for the duration of the proceedings. After a tense half-hour in front of the police cordon, the court finally granted them entry to this sacred space. When it was all over, machi Betiana Colhuán Nahuel shared: “It was hard being there, surrounded by police. We signed that agreement, but so far they've only let us in occasionally, and we can't build anything again.” The agreement includes a commitment to build three houses there, the ones that were demolished.

It was a valuable day in the search for justice for Rafael's death. "We can't think that justice will turn a blind eye and not see what we were seeing throughout the trial," plaintiff attorney Przybylski told Presentes. "The expectation is that this will end as it should, which is with a conviction for homicide. I don't see any other possibility."

The arguments will begin in the first week of November, and a ruling is expected near the end of the month.