Argentinian police arrest a Mapuche woman, Victoria Dolores Núñez Fernández, in Chubut province, Argentina, February 12, 2025. Photo: X/@NachoTorresCH.
Mapuche indigenous communities in the province of Chubut, Argentina, have been victims of extensive raids by the police, who acted with extreme violence against men, women, and elderly people of the communities, in the context of investigations into whether the forest fires in the Patagonia region were deliberately started.
In the raids conducted on Wednesday, February 12, which have generated a wave of indignation and repudiation, the police beat elderly people and threw them to the ground. The police personnel participating in the raids also destroyed doors and windows and furniture in the houses.
The communities that were affected are Lof Pillan Mahuiza, Lof Cañio, Lof Catriman, and Lof Nahuelpan. The community radio station FM Petü Mogueleiñ was also raided and its signal was taken off air.
The leader of Pillan Mahuiza, Mauro Millán, condemned the raid on his home and the persecution that his community has suffered. Millán had previously warned about this persecution by the police against the indigenous communities.
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During the detention control hearing in the judicial office No. 2 of Esquel, Judge Jorge Criado ordered 60 days of preventive detention for 34-year old Victoria Dolores Núñez Fernández, the only person detained in the simultaneous raids. Chubut Prosecutor General María Bottini argued that Victoria could hinder the investigation, despite the fact that the evidence presented against her was inconclusive.
The governor of Chubut, Ignacio Torres, announced to the media the plan of eviction for Lof Pillan Mahuiza until the aid to extinguish the active fires arrives from the Argentinian government. The people of Chubut, and especially the Mapuche and Tehuelche indigenous people are not only fighting against the fires but also against criminalization of their people. It has been alleged that the fires were intentionally caused by real estate magnates with the aim of appropriating the lands, and the Mapuche communities living in those areas are being falsely blamed for the fires.
(Telesur) with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/DZ
