Claudio Andrade
08/03/2020 - 15:57
- Clarín.com
- Society
Violence once again takes over Villa Mascardi 30 kilometers from Bariloche. This Sunday a group of strangers tried to set fire to a cabin on the property known as La Cristalina .
The attack occurred in a high conflict area that is currently dominated by the Mapuche community Lof Lafken Winkul Mapu .
La Cristalina, the property and the cabin that were destroyed in a night attack.
In the last three years, the aborigines have occupied around 50 hectares of the tourist area considered one of the most attractive in Patagonia where the value of the hectare exceeds USD 100,000 .
La Cristalina, the property and the cabin that were destroyed in a night attack.
There are an estimated 30 people living permanently in Mascardi's occupations. Most are part of the Colhuan and Nahuel families. Another sporadic actor is Matías Santana, the Mapuche with the binoculars, who offered false testimony in the case of the death of Santiago Maldonado in Cushamen, Chubut. Santana is a couple of the machi Betiana Colhuan with whom she has a son. Meanwhile, the historical neighbors reach about 60 people and the majority with more than half a century of residence.
La Escondida, one of the properties occupied by Mapuches in Villa Mascardi.
In September 2017, the members of this group of militants took possession of a first property of 6 hectares in front of Lake Mascardi and 200 meters from the ACA . The occupation was based on the fact that the Colhuan machi determined that it was a sacred space for the Mapuches. It is the land where Rafael Nahuel (22) died during an operation of the Argentine Naval Prefecture on November 25 of that year.
La Cristalina is one of the first settlements by settlers from the Bariloche community in the sector. Expertise showed that the attackers used "some flammable item" to start the fire. Although the flames did not prosper, the fire destroyed various furniture and spread through the walls.
Until three years ago La Cristalina stood in perfect condition on a green hill that allowed you to see Lake Mascardi . Today the shelter remains abandoned and the caregivers do not dare to come closer due to the increasing violence.
La Cristalina, the property and the cabin that were destroyed in a night attack.
Two days before the attack on that property, the militants took over the property called Cabaña Hueche Ruca, belonging to the Bishopric of San Isidro . The robberies began in 2018, said the space administrator for about 40 years, Alejo Dasso. The cabins were built in 1962 at the initiative of priests of the bishopric. The Mapuches extracted machinery, windows, doors, and materials from the walls until only the skeleton of the construction remained.
October 2019. A group of young Mapuches cut the route in Villa Mascardi.
"Mascardi is a black dot. You cannot live there, you cannot enter. The houses were destroyed precisely so that no one inhabits them. Mascardi is a black dot on the map and the authorities do not seem to do anything about it, ”Tomás Dasso, who with his father Alejo, is in charge of the administration of the cabins, tells Clarín. "There are no longer caregivers who want to be there because they are attacked or threatened," he adds.
Between 2017 and today the Lof Lafken Winkul Mapu community has seized some 50 hectares of territory in Mascardi. They started with a 6-hectare property belonging to National Parks. In 2018 they added the old IOS (Instituto Obra Social) hotel, which had been out of operation since the early 90s. The same year, they continued to advance on the San José Buenos Aires school complex, where three cabins were burned down. In November and December 2019 they annexed the land called La Escondida of 8 hectares and an important fraction of the beach of Lake Mascardi.
The hotel usurped by Mapuches in the middle of paradise.
On Friday, July 31, a meeting was held in Mascardi in which members of the community and the secretary of the Federal Security Articulation of the national government, Gabriel Fuks, participated. In a tense dialogue, which took place at times in Mapudungun and with translators, the parties agreed to meet within 30 to 60 days.
According to reports, there were no explanations or apologies for the continuous acts of violence and aggression to which the former residents are subjected. Nor was anything resolved about the numerous occupations. There are 16 cases in the Bariloche Public Prosecutor's Office for robberies, fires, threats and various damages to property, but none have shown signs of progress.
On the contrary, the militants made it clear that they will not give in to their onslaught since they consider that they have rights to Mascardi's land.
"The Mapuche leaders raised again and again that they claim the occupations and they will claim and endorse those that occur in the future because they understand that it is an ancestral right that corresponds to them," said the lawyer who defends them Virgilio Sánchez. "The leaders clarified that they will not go against the cities but that the rural territories will be subject to eventual recoveries of their territory," he added.
The busy sector of Mascardi is one of the most beautiful in the Cordillera. However, Dasso assures that there are more and more neighbors who have decided to put their properties on sale because they fear the advance of the Mapuches.
Currently, you can find various properties and land in the sector for sale worth millions. One of the offers is a 300 m2 building located on 6 hectares for about USD 2 million. Another land in the vicinity of 14 hectares, but almost without construction, sells for USD 1.5 million. In the latter case, the value per round is USD 100,000.
GS
