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CUESTA DEL TERNERO (Río Negro) – “When someone sets fire to Mapuche territory, the police do nothing.” This is how the Lof Quemquemtrew community, from the Cuesta del Ternero area (Río Negro), denounces what happened this past Saturday, March 1st. That day, they were meeting there with members of other communities when, around 6:00 p.m., someone started a fire on the land belonging to the Lof Anticura, another Mapuche family from the area who have been supporting the Lof Quemquemtrew since they reclaimed their territory in 2021. A member of the community quickly notified the police, who maintain a 24-hour checkpoint a few meters away to monitor the movements of those who live in the area.

“ The police did nothing, neither to put out the fire nor to call the firefighters, nor to catch the person who started it, ” says Alejandro Morales of the Lof Quemquemtrew. “ We came down from the community and controlled the fire among the peñi and lamien (brothers and sisters) until the firefighters arrived. And it was we who alerted them .”

“They wanted to blame us and evict us.”

While fires ravage tens of thousands of hectares in the area—Quemquemtrew is fifteen kilometers from Mallín Ahogado, where 3,800 hectares and at least 150 homes have just burned—the police have been busy arresting volunteer firefighters and raiding Mapuche communities without any evidence in any case. Nicolás Heredia, who was helping fight the Mallín Ahogado fire, spent three weeks in pretrial detention because a neighbor said he “was dark-skinned and had a suspicious face.” But when someone sets fire to a Mapuche community right next to police officers, nothing is done. “Look what’s happening in the other territories,” says Morales. “I think they wanted to start fires here to blame us and find excuses to evict us. And to punish Néstor for supporting us. But we were the ones who put it out.” 

Néstor Anticura, one of the people who reported the fire and the owner of the field where it started, recounts: “My cousin told me that a drunk man was walking by and appeared next to the house, looking at her sheep. She got scared and asked him to leave. The man crossed over to this side, and a few minutes later, smoke was seen.” Néstor and his cousin filed a report, identifying the arsonist by name, but so far, nothing has been done about it. 

On Sunday, March 2nd, there was an open gathering in Quemuemtrew. Romina Jones, a member of that Lof (Mapuche community), noted that the police demanded all the personal information of both journalists and their companions. The information they requested from those of us who participated included not only identification but also addresses, professions, and even phone numbers. “But Rocco has these nefarious characters there.” 

The forestry businessman behind the plot

This refers to Rolando Rocco , a forestry businessman who has been pursuing legal action against the community since it reclaimed its territory in September 2021. The land is state-owned, but Rocco holds logging concessions in the area and is claiming the property even though the community settled in a native forest area, not where the businessman's plantations are located.

In November 2021, two Rocco employees entered the territory armed, murdered Elías Garay Cayicol, and seriously wounded Gonzalo Cabrera. The following year, they were convicted of homicide, but one of them managed to overturn the conviction and is now free. Rocco was also a plaintiff in the case that resulted in the conviction of Morales, Jones, and Lautaro Cárdenas for trespassing in October 2024. As a result of that conviction, the community is currently under an outstanding eviction order.

Fearing eviction

The deadline for voluntary relocation expired on Friday, February 28th, and they fear the eviction could begin as early as Wednesday, March 5th. Jones says: “They do this, and the police do nothing, not even when they start fires right under their noses. This is the scenario they're creating, we believe, to justify the evictions, which are always violent. From day one, we've been asking the provincial government to take action, to call for dialogue. We've always been willing to talk, to reach agreements with the forestry company and the government, because this is public land. The only response we've received has been eviction, violence .”

It is well known that since the community settled there, all acts of violence have targeted Mapuche people, not only the murder of Elías Garay but also repeated harassment by Rolando Rocco . On several occasions, the community has reported that he chases children with his truck and has threatened women from the community . However, the local prosecutor's office has never accepted these complaints . Despite the media campaign portraying all Mapuche people as violent, there is not a single act of violence attributable to the community.

The path of a second machi

Lof Quemquemtrew settled in its current territory in September 2021. “My daughter Lilén is a machil (apprentice on the path to becoming a machi) of this lof, from Puel Mapu (Argentina), who is building her work here in this territory,” says Romina Jones. “Her rewe is here, now threatened by the provincial government in defense of a forestry company.” Lilén has been training for over three and a half years to become a machi, a traditional figure in Mapuche medicine and spirituality, now under the tutelage of machi Cristóbal Tremigual Lemui, who lives in the Los Lagos Region of Chile.

Lilén explains: “Here I have my rewe, here I have my home.” A rewe, a place of ceremonies, is of vital importance to a machi. Each machi has a direct relationship with her rewe, which is unique in the world. It is her spiritual anchor. From her worldview, being forcibly separated from it brings serious consequences.

Lilén continues: “This is where we, the neighbors of the area, the Mapuche people of the region, gather to hold trawún, to perform ceremonies. We cannot be usurpers of our own territory . I hope we are heard and that the children can live in peace, that we young people can continue our lives in the countryside, that those of us who have a role in this place can rise up without difficulties.”

Upon becoming a machi, Lilén would become the second machi in Argentina. The first, Betiana Colhuán Nahuel, of the Lof Lafken Winkul Mapu, is located about seventy kilometers further north. That community also suffered the murder of one of its members, Rafael Nahuel, in 2017. They were then violently evicted in October 2022, and several members were convicted of trespassing in 2024. Today, they face a second trial for trespassing, with the National Parks Administration as the plaintiff, but also requesting the removal of the rewe ).

“The police are in cahoots with those who threaten the territories”

Fearing a similar outcome, Romina Jones urgently calls for the defense of the territory. “What’s at stake is our health, our spirituality, the health in particular of the machil (shaman), of the children, of everyone who works here. This rewe sacred site) is the only one in the region. It holds the newén ( spiritual power) of many people, of many Mapuche people who have come here to hold ceremonies, to hold trawún (gatherings). So, support is urgently needed, as is making visible the situations we are going through, so that the truth of what is happening can truly be told. That the police are colluding with those who threaten our territories .”