Today, a series of violent and simultaneous raids were carried out against the Mapuche Tehuelche people in several locations in the Andes Mountains of Chubut Province: at the Mapuche community radio station Petü Mogeleiñ in the town of El Maitén, and at various communities: Lof Catrimán Colihueque (where an 82-year-old woman lives ), Lof Nahuelpan (including the home of the 80-year-old lonko), Lof Cañio (where an elderly couple in their 70s were raided), and Lof Pillán Mahuiza. In this last community, a member named Victoria was detained at the Esquel police station. They are being accused, once again, of starting fires in the area.

Members of GEOP (Federal Police Special Operations Group), Infantry, the Canine Unit, the Scientific Police, and the Rural Security Division were among the forces that carried out the raids. The operation also included the private residences of members of the Mapuche-Tehuelche community.

The orders were signed on February 10 by criminal judge Jorge Criado, within the framework of an investigation led by Attorney General María Bottini and Ismael Cerdá, Prosecutor of the Prosecutor's Office, in the case entitled: "Mirantes, Miguel Angel s/dcia intentional fire", for the events that occurred on January 18 at the Amancay Ranch in Trevelin.

How to build a case

In this context, the prosecution also mentions an accident that occurred within the territory of the Nahuelpan community. As a result of this incident, Héctor Quilaqueo, a member of the community, is hospitalized fighting for his life after suffering severe burns while trying to extinguish the fire. 

The other event mentioned in the investigation that prompted the raids is the peaceful blockade of the La Trochita tourist train tracks in protest against the eviction of the Lof Pailako community on January 9th. The case seeks to link these events to an arson attack at the Amancay ranch in Trevelin and aims to criminalize the Mapuche-Tehuelche people.

The documents displayed during the raids, which Infoterritorial and Presentes obtained, seek to assign blame through a series of absurd and unfounded claims. One paragraph of the document makes alarming assertions that are completely at odds with reality. The document argues that “events of unprecedented violence and destructive capacity have been occurring” and that “the gravity of the alleged conduct necessitates the adoption of equally extraordinary measures for the collection and preservation of evidence within the framework of the ongoing investigation. Any action by the State's punitive power other than this would open the possibility that those who participated in the attacks would obtain impunity.”. 

A judge accused of discrimination

Judge Criado is under investigation by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in Geneva for discrimination against a Mapuche woman. Furthermore, Prosecutor Bottini was involved in a case of illegal espionage against residents of the "No to the Esquel Mine" movement and members of the Mapuche community. Although the espionage case was dismissed, it remains open.

From the Lof Catriman Colihueque community, they recounted that in the early morning hours, police forces stormed in, brandishing firearms and blinding 82-year-old Isabel Catriman and her 62-year-old cousin Gregorio with flashlights. “They broke down the gate, even though it wasn't locked, and since it was still dark inside the ruka (traditional Mapuche dwelling), they blinded them with flashlights,” she told us. Isabel suffers from hypertension and experienced a spike in her blood pressure.

Simultaneously, about 130 kilometers away, raids were carried out in Lof Cañio, homes and radio stations in the town of El Maitén.

The community radio station: "They threw away materials, food, and expensive equipment." 

Members of Radio Petú Mogelein reported in a statement that a raid had been carried out at the home of one of their members. Minutes later, the operation moved to the community radio station.

“Without prior notification, provincial police, acting on orders from Judge Criado and Prosecutor Carlos Cavallo, raided our radio station, breaking the locks on the premises housing the transmitter, the control room, and the broadcast booth; the archive room located on the side of the building; the station's multipurpose room (where we store clothing and non-perishable food items collected to assist families in emergency situations); and the home of a relative of our colleague JM,” the radio station reported.

As in the other raids, they broke locks, “threw away various materials, including food and expensive equipment that allows us to broadcast. They also took two CPUs that we use for broadcasting and streaming,” they explained.

“Shocked by this whole scenario, so well orchestrated after the unfounded accusations of Governor Torres and Minister Bullrich, amidst fires of various kinds (according to those in charge of investigating their origins, from state institutions) that are devastating ancient forests, all the life that develops within them, and even hundreds of homes, including those of many dear comrades and friends from our Andean region, we can only be surprised to find ourselves the targets of these raids, unjustly linked to events that encourage these actions of incinerating the territories to which we belong, while in reality we promote their care and not their exploitation, denouncing the greedy interests to which they are exposed, so many that we cannot even begin to grasp their magnitude.”

The radio station emphasized that “while volunteer brigades try to extinguish the fires alongside firefighters, brigade members, and affected residents, provincial and national political power is once again focusing on constructing the Mapuche people as an internal enemy and attempting to break, accuse, and detain the conscious, supportive society, this living network that we are, and which on numerous occasions has stood up to political and corporate power to stop the advance of extractivism.”.

“They entered violently and refused to show the warrant.”

Evis Millan, for her part, reported that in Lof Pillán Mahuiza—a community near Corcovado, 100 kilometers from Esquel, and where her sister, Moira Millán, also lives—the special forces “entered with great violence, breaking down doors and windows, forcing everyone to lie on the floor, and some people had their hands bound with zip ties. They confiscated cell phones, computers, and tools,” she said. 

“They didn’t want to show us the search warrant; they only did so after many hours of holding us here, because they wouldn’t let any of us leave our homes. When they finally showed us the warrant, we saw the terrible lies it contained. Pure falsehoods. We are very worried about Victoria’s safety; she is being held in Esquel,” added Evis Millán. 

The arbitrary detention of Victoria

Victoria Núñez Fernández, 33, is a member of Pillán Mahuiza. She is being held at Police Station No. 1 in Esquel. For much of the day, Victoria was held incommunicado until members of the Permanent Assembly for Human Rights (APDH), who are supporting her, were finally able to speak with her. They found her frightened and confused after the violent police operation. Furthermore, she had not been informed of the charges against her. A detention hearing will be held tomorrow, February 12th, at noon at the Esquel Judicial Office, where her legal status will be determined.

“They also took her vehicle, the one she used for charitable purposes, because Vic was always helping out and going to the communities, looking for lahuen (medicine). In the report they filed to accuse her, they detail all her movements. We aren't afraid, but we are very angry about what they're doing; it's very unfair,” a source shared with us. And they anticipated that there will likely be more raids. 

The raid in Pillán Mahuiza ended with an elderly man over 80 years old being injured after being pushed and hitting himself against a piece of furniture,” another source reported. 

“We know how this government operates. Violence cannot be normalized. We will continue fighting, because we understand that the fight for life is a right, and so is solidarity with other communities. So we will remain here, standing firm as Mapuche. But we are worried about Vic,” said Evis Millán. 

“Unsustainable and in a context of criminalization of the Mapuche people”

Lawyer Sonia Ivanoff is accompanying the Lof Catriman Colihuque and Lof Nahuelpan communities, where simultaneous raids were also carried out today. The raid in Nahuelpan included the home of the community's 80-year-old lonko (chief). “Today's raids combined two separate investigation files. They are the same prosecutors, María Bottini and Ismael Cerdá. They combined the fire at the Amancay ranch, involving machinery, and an accidental fire in the Nahuelpan community, at the Quilaqueo-Llancaqueo family home. They combined these two files and submitted a request to the judge, who authorized the investigative measures. In the Quilaqueo case, this included personal searches, searches of residences and vehicles, seizure of cell phones, firearms, and evidence related to fire accelerants,” the lawyer explained. 

In the other case, the one that led to raids in Pillan Mahuiza and other Lof communities, the line of investigation links the eviction of Lof Paillako, the peaceful intervention of some people at La Trochita (the narrow-gauge railway line) where they sought to raise awareness among tourists about what was happening, and draws connections to the Trevelin fire. “But they also overlook something about Epuyén, and frankly, the argument is untenable, in a context of clear criminalization of the Mapuche people,” said Ivanoff. 

They denounce persecution 

Various networks and organizations are denouncing this as a strategy to persecute and stigmatize indigenous peoples in one of the provinces affected by the fires.  

“From the Network of Community, Alternative, and Popular Media Approaches of Patagonia (which brings together eleven community radio stations from Chubut, Río Negro, and Neuquén), we want to express our condemnation of the persecution we are suffering in the Andean region following the fires. In both Chubut and Río Negro, people who have nothing to do with the situation are being arrested and homes are being raided. The presence in the area of ​​Patricia Bullrich and Luis Petri, repressive ministers of the national government, is no coincidence, nor is it a coincidence, given the repeated statements by the governor of Chubut, Ignacio Torres, against the Mapuche people. This is part of a repressive media, political, and judicial maneuver, instead of fighting the fires and assisting the affected families,” the Network stated.

The Chair of Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and Migrant Studies at the UNPSJB (National University of Patagonia San Juan Bosco) emphatically condemned the political and judicial criminalization of the Mapuche and Mapuche Tehuelche communities and members. They stated: “The discursive and media attacks of the days leading up to the tragic fires in various parts of Wallmapu (ancestral territory) escalated, culminating today in numerous raids and home invasions carried out by a justice system that appears to be subservient to political interests. These actions are solely aimed at instilling fear in the Mapuche Tehuelche population, while pretending to show results to the general public. Ultimately, however, they only demonstrate a lack of effectiveness and will to identify those truly responsible for the fires, perhaps because in most cases, the invisible hand of real estate, mining, and hydroelectric speculation—all controlled by foreign capital—is behind them.” State negligence in fire prevention, the dismantling of relevant agencies, and the precarious working conditions of firefighters are all part of the planned destruction and handover of territories to economic interests. Accusing the Mapuche and Mapuche Tehuelche people of setting fire to the forests is absurd, since, with the exception of capitalist speculation, no one destroys the environment that sustains their lives.