Land seizure in Guernica: the ghost of the eviction advances and the families say that if they are thrown out they "stay in the street"

Vanesa Lopez

09/10/2020 - 7:34

• Clarín.com

• Society

Fear is a constant among the families that live in the occupied lands of the Buenos Aires city of Guernica.

They say that, in the event of the eviction ordered by the La Plata Appeals Chamber, they will remain on the street.

And they ask for help.

There are about 2,500 families who have settled, since July 26, in the property of about 100 hectares.

with small children who dream of having their own space.

Children are seen playing, some nursing, and others waiting for the moment to be born. 

Nidia Amarilla, 33 years old, 6 months pregnant and with a one-and-a-half-year-old boy walking around her legs.

He receives

in the "garden" of his "house", a construction of wood, sheet metal and canvas, like almost all of the huts on the property.

Tour of the land grab in Guernica.

Photo Maxi Failla.

“We are from here, from Guernica.

We were for rent, they asked us 7 thousand pesos.

But I didn't have a job.

Before, I worked at a fair, sold homemade bread.

But when the pandemic came,

”says her husband, Carlos Rodas (32).

“We know that it is a crime to be here.

We ask that

.

If they evict us, we stay on the street.

We have nowhere to go.

I don't want my children to stay on the street ”, continues the man while wiping his tears.

And he emphasizes: "We are not violent, we do not come to commit crimes."

Nidia Amarilla and Carlos Rodas ask the Government to help them.

Photo Maxi Failla.

The atmosphere is peaceful

and familiar.

Groups are seen drinking tereré, some prepare lunch, and others sweep up the leaves that accumulate at the entrances of the houses.

“I'm going to resist up to a point, if it gets

, no.

I'm not going to stay to fight with the police ”, anticipates Eugenia Pérez.

At the age of 30, she

live with her husband and three children, one barely 10 months old.

Eugenia Pérez dreams of a house of her own.

Photo Maxi Failla.

If she is evicted, she would return to her mother-in-law's house, where she had lived for six years, before arriving at this property.

But she seeks independence.

So she settled in with a tent, which broke in the wind.

Now she sleeps in a "hut", on a mattress.

Like other neighbors, he appoints Blanca Cantero, mayor of the municipality of Presidente Perón.

"She is saying on television that

, so that we can pay. Why not? I'm going to work and I'm going to pay," says who introduces himself as a hairdresser, a cosmetics salesperson, and a first-year student. year of advocacy.

"We don't ask for gifts," he insists.

In Guernica there are large families, with many children.

Photo Maxi Failla.

In a dialogue with radio Metro, Cantero said that in the land grab "there are many humble people but there are also those who

."

And he added that "the property they took is large and there is a part, a subdivision, which has owners and that is why the complaint was made and a judge and a prosecutor are intervening in the case."

"At first there were 200 people and the police came, but the next day there were twice as many," Cantero said, after assuring that "no one went to see her to tell her that she is on the street and has nowhere to live."

In addition, the mayor mentioned that in the land seizure "there are people from other municipalities" and said that "all the residents of President Perón are against it because it

."

Some inhabitants of the previous one are natives of neighboring countries.

Photo Maxi Failla.

From what

could see

, each batch is perfectly divided and separated by sticks or cables.

There are no stacked houses, but an order and organization can be observed in the facilities.

In the "first block" there is a dining room.

And among the neighbors - they say - there is solidarity. 

“I have lived in Guernica for 30 years.

I lived with my mom, but we couldn't all be together.

There were 12. A neighbor told me that there was a land take.

He tells me 'you have nowhere to live, go and see'.

Well, we came.

”, comments Alba Campos (41).

Alba Campos lives in a hut with her husband and four children.

Photo Maxi Failla.

Her four children sleep in

, given to her by a neighbor.

They have a kitchen, carafe and even a television, which they installed when "the light came."

He says he is afraid "for the children."

Specifically, fear that they will enter at dawn, that they will throw everything at him, and that they will tell him to leave.

While nursing her baby, María Franco (37) tells that she rented a house, but has a debt of 16 thousand pesos.

With nowhere to go, she settled on the land with her husband and four children.

"I'm afraid," he says when asked about a possible eviction, and pleads: "

."

This Tuesday, Chamber I of the La Plata Appeals Chamber

of the massive land grab.

The ruling dismissed a presentation made by lawyers from the Association of Lawyers and Lawyers of the Argentine Republic who represent the families involved in that taking.

In the Guernica taking, each lot is divided.

Photo Maxi Failla.

"The collective eviction must be carried out

and must be during daytime and cannot be implemented in adverse weather conditions," they indicated in the ruling.

For the diligence "the faculty may be granted to the fiscal agent to resort to the assistance of the public force", who must carry out the procedure "with the greatest care for the integrity of the people who occupy the property and property" and appeal " to the use of force in the event that it is indispensable and to the least possible extent ”, he continued.

Shortly after the news was known, the lawyer of some of the families that maintained the seizure, María Del Rosario Fernández, told

that they will

to resist the eviction.

GS