Today, a series of simultaneous violent raids were carried out against the Mapuche Tehuelche people in several locations in the Andes mountains of Chubut province. These raids targeted the Mapuche community radio station Petü Mogeleiñ in the town of El Maitén and 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 (a 70-year-old couple of grandparents), and Lof Pillán Mahuiza. One member of this community, Victoria, was detained at the Esquel police station. They are once again being charged with the fires in the area.

Members of the Federal Police's Special Operations Group (GEOP), the Infantry, the Canine Division, the Forensic Police, and the Rural Security Division were among the forces that carried out the raids. They also included the private homes of members of the Mapuche Tehuelche people.

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

How to build a case

In this context, the prosecutor's office also mentions an accident that occurred within the Nahuelpan community. As a result, Héctor Quilaqueo, a community member, is hospitalized, fighting for his life after the deep burns he suffered while trying to put out the fire. 

The other incident mentioned in the investigation that led to the raids is the peaceful blockade of the La Trochita tourist train tracks in protest of the eviction of Lof Pailako on January 9. The case seeks to link these events to an arson attack on the Amancay establishment in Trevelin. It also aims to criminalize the Mapuche Tehuelche people.

The documents produced during the raids, to which Infoterritorial and Presentes had access, seek to identify culprits through a series of absurd and unfounded claims. One paragraph of the document makes disturbing assertions that are completely inconsistent with reality. The document argues that "events of unprecedented violence and harmful force are unfolding" and that "the seriousness of the alleged conduct makes it necessary to adopt extraordinary measures to collect and preserve evidence within the framework of the ongoing investigation. Any action other than the State's punitive power would open the door for those who participated in the attacks to 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 people. Despite the dismissal, the espionage case remains active.

From Lof Catriman Colihueque, they reported that in the early hours of the morning, police forces broke in at gunpoint, blinding 82-year-old Isabel Catriman and her 62-year-old cousin Gregorio with flashlights. “They broke the gate even though it was unlocked, and since it was still dark inside the ruka, they blinded them with flashlights,” she told us. Isabel suffers from hypertension and ended up with a spike in blood pressure.

At the same time, approximately 130 kilometers away, raids were carried out in Lof Cañio, homes, and a radio station in the town of El Maitén.

Community radio: "They threw away expensive materials, food, and equipment." 

Members of the Petú Mogelein radio station reported in a statement that the home of one of its members had been raided. Minutes later, the operation moved to the community radio station.

“Without being notified, provincial police, on the orders of Judge Criado and Prosecutor Carlos Cavallo, broke into our radio station, breaking the locks on the transmitter, the operating and broadcasting room, the archive room located on the side of the building, the radio station's emergency room (where we store clothing and non-perishable food to help families in emergencies), as well as the home of a relative of our colleague JM,” the station reported.

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

“Shocked by this whole scenario so well staged after the baseless accusations of Governor Torres and Minister Bullrich, in a framework of fires of different kinds (according to those in charge, from state institutions, of elucidating their origins) that have been devastating ancient forests, all life that develops in them, and even hundreds of houses among which are those of many very dear companions and friends, of our Andean region, we can only be surprised to be protagonists of these raids, unjustly linked to events that promote these actions of incineration of the territories to which we belong, while in the real facts we promote their care and not plunder, denouncing the greedy interests to which they are exposed, so many that we cannot even measure.”

From the radio they highlighted that "while the volunteer brigades try to put out the fires together with firefighters, brigade members and affected neighbors, the provincial and national political power once again sets its sights on constructing the Mapuche people as an internal enemy and trying to break, accuse and stop the conscious, supportive society, this living network that we are, and that on numerous occasions stood up to political and corporate power to stop the advance of extractivism."

“They entered violently and did not want to show the warrant.”

For his part, Evis Millan reported that in Lof Pillán Mahuiza—a community near Corcovado, 100 kilometers from Esquel, where his sister, Moira Millán, also lives—the special forces "entered with great violence, broke down doors and windows, made everyone lie on the ground, and put tape on some people's hands. They seized cell phones, computers, and tools," he said. 

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

The arbitrary detention of Victoria

Victoria Núñez Fernández is 33 years old and a member of Pillán Mahuiza. She is being held at Esquel Police Station No. 1. For much of the day, Victoria was held incommunicado until members of the APDH (Permanent Assembly for Human Rights) who are accompanying her were finally able to speak with her. They found her frightened and confused after the violent operation. Furthermore, she had never been told what she was being charged with. Tomorrow, February 12th, at 12:00 PM, a detention control hearing will be held at the Esquel Court Office, and her legal status will be determined.

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

The raid in Pillán Mahuiza was ended "with an elderly man over 80 years old injured, who was pushed and hit against a piece of furniture," another source reported. 

“We know how this government is handling things. Violence cannot be naturalized. 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, steadfast as Mapuche. But we are worried about Vic,” said Evis Millán. 

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

Attorney Sonia Ivanoff is accompanying the Catriman Colihuque Lof and the Nahuelpan Lof, where simultaneous operations were also carried out today. The raid in Nahuelpan included the home of the community's 80-year-old lonko. "The raids today combined two fiscal investigation files. They are the same prosecutors, María Bottini and Ismael Cerdá. They combined the fire at the Amancay ranch, involving the machinery, and a fire that occurred accidentally in the community of Nahuelpan, involving the Quilaqueo-Llancaqueo family. They combined those two files and filed a petition with the judge, who authorized the investigative measures. In the Quilaqueo case, they conducted a personal search, a search of homes, vehicles, seizure of cell phones, firearms, and evidence for fire accelerants," the attorney explained. 

In the other case, the one that led to raids in Pillan Mahuiza and other Lofs, the investigative line links the eviction of Lof Paillako, the peaceful intervention of some people in La Trochita, where they sought to raise awareness among tourists about what was happening, and draws links to the Trevelin fire. "But they also overlook something about Epuyén, and the truth is that the argument is unsustainable, in a context of clear criminalization of the Mapuche people," said Ivanoff. 

They denounce persecution 

Various networks and organizations have denounced 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 in Chubut, Río Negro, and Neuquén), we want to express our condemnation of the persecution we are experiencing in the Andean region following the fires. In both Chubut and Río Negro, people who have nothing to do with the situation have been arrested and homes have been raided. The presence of Patricia Bullrrich and Luis Petri in the area as repressive ministers of the national government is no coincidence, in addition to the repeated statements by Chubut Governor 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 Free Chair of Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendants, and Migrants of the UNPSJB (National University of Patagonia San Juan Bosco) emphatically repudiated the political and judicial criminalization of the communities and members of the Mapuche and Mapuche Tehuelche people. It stated: "The discursive and media attacks of the previous days in the context of the tragic fires in various sectors of Wallmapu (ancestral territory) have escalated, and today there have been several raids and house searches carried out by a justice system that appears to be subordinated to political interests. These actions only aim to instill fear in the Mapuche Tehuelche population, pretending to show results to the general population, but ultimately only demonstrate a lack of effectiveness and will to find those truly responsible for the fires, perhaps because in most cases, the invisible hand of real estate, mining, and hydroelectric speculation is behind them. All of them in the hands of foreign capital. The state's neglect of fire prevention efforts, the dismantling of relevant agencies, and the precariousness of firefighter workers are part of the planned destruction and surrender of territories to economic interests. Accusing the Mapuche and Mapuche Tehuelche people of setting forest fires is absurd, since, with the exception of capitalist speculation, no one destroys the environment that sustains them.