Protests over fire management and the persecution of the Mapuche people
Protests in the provinces of Chubut, Río Negro, Neuquén, in the City of Buenos Aires and in many localities of the country demanded that the fires be extinguished, that the criminalization of the Mapuche people cease, and that Victoria Núñez and Nicolás Heredia be released.
Share
Yesterday, protests took place in the provinces of Chubut, Río Negro, and Neuquén, as well as in the City of Buenos Aires and many other locations across the country. Activists, organizations, and individuals called for a focus on concentrating efforts and resources on extinguishing the fires that continue to ravage various parts of the country, strongly criticizing the government of Javier Milei, the administration of Patricia Bullrich, and Governor Ignacio Torres. In addition to questioning the handling of the fires, they expressed solidarity with the Mapuche people, who are facing intense persecution aimed at linking them to the fires through a smear campaign by the Chubut and national governments. The protests demanded the immediate release of Victoria Nuñez Fernández, detained at the Esquel police station, and Nicolás Heredia.
In Esquel, they marched to the police station where Vic is being held.
The demonstration had been called before the violent raids in Chubut on a community radio station and Indigenous communities, where Victoria Núñez was arbitrarily detained. In Esquel, the march began in Plaza San Martín and proceeded directly to the police station, where she is under house arrest for 60 days. A peaceful protest was held in front of the station, followed by a march through the city streets back to the plaza.
In Bariloche, Nicolás Heredia's mother called for his release.
There were also marches in Trelew, Puerto Madryn, Rawson, and in Bariloche, Roca, San Martín de los Andes, General Roca, Mar del Plata, Rosario, Comodoro Rivadavia, Chilecito, San Juan, and Bariloche. Sandra, the mother of Nicolás Heredia, the young volunteer who remains detained and stated that he was helping to extinguish the fire, participated in the marches. Sandra spoke in the Plaza de los Pañuelos y Kultrunes (Plaza of the Handkerchiefs and Kultrun Drums). “I’ve come to march for his release. I want to take him to Senillosa (Neuquén). I told my children, we have to find out where your brother is because I’m afraid they’ll kill him and dump him and no one will claim anything. That was my fear,” she told Radio Encuentro, as reported by the FARCO network.
In Buenos Aires: “We are not terrorists. We are sons and daughters of this land.”
In Buenos Aires, a demonstration gathered at the Obelisk and marched to Plaza de Mayo. “ We are not the ones starting the fires; those in power are. We must go after them,” declared Irma Caupán, one of the speakers, from the Movement of Indigenous Women Diversities for Good Living. “We ask for solidarity. Not with fascist and racist states. We will continue to defend life. We ask you to continue being spokespeople for our Mapuche-Tehuelche peoples .”
At the press conference he held on Wednesday, Governor Ignacio Torres made extremely serious accusations against Moria Millán, of the Lof Pillañ Mahuiza community. Her sister, Mirta Millán, also spoke. “Please, comrades, let us raise awareness. More than ever, we need to come together, to unite our affections; we are living through unimaginable times,” she said. She emphasized, “We do what we have been taught: protection, connection, love. We are so hurt and moved. We cannot comprehend such cruelty. We are sensitive beings, connected to the land. We are political beings; we want diversity in all areas. And that is why we will fight: so that justice may be done. We will not allow them to continue encroaching upon our territories from north to south. Our lives matter.”
She also shared that her father, over 80 years old, “was harmed by the repressive forces of this power. My nieces, my granddaughters, saw how the repressive forces of this State threw my father, their grandfather, and pushed their uncles. We are not thieves, murderers, or terrorists. We are sons and daughters of this land.”
The document read in Buenos Aires denounced the handling of the fires and highlighted community care networks, the work of the firefighters, and solidarity. “Milei’s chainsaw is cutting into the few tools available to fight the fires. Only the actions of the firefighters, the brigades, popular solidarity, and the rain managed to slow the flames,” they shared.
In this regard, they warned that this is not negligence, but a plan. "Everyone needs to know that to date, for fires that have devoured tens of thousands of hectares, taking away trees hundreds and hundreds of years old and threatening the entire biodiversity of the region, the only people arrested are a woman committed to protecting the land and a volunteer firefighter."
"It is the forestry companies that are destroying native forests to impose monoculture pine trees, dams that are destroying ecosystems, and real estate deals that are encroaching on burned lands," they denounced.
We are Present
We are committed to a type of journalism that delves deeply into the realm of the world and offers in-depth research, combined with new technologies and narrative formats. We want the protagonists, their stories, and their struggles to be present.
SUPPORT US
FOLLOW US
Related Notes
We Are Present
This and other stories don't usually make the media's attention. Together, we can make them known.
1 comment