Claudio Andrade
10/26/2020 10:08
Clarín.com
Society
Updated 10/26/2020 10:08
The Coordinator of the Parliament of the Mapuche People sent a letter to Pope Francis asking him to intercede before the "imminent" eviction of the Mapuche community that usurped a property of the Archdiocese of San Isidro in Mascardi at the beginning of the year.
“The intention is to convey our deep concern about the imminence of an eviction to the Mapuche Lafken Winkul Mapu community in Villa Mascardi, 35 km from Bariloche.
It is the same place where almost 3 years ago,
the Argentine Naval Prefecture killed Peñi Rafael Nahuel from behind
, in an eviction attempt carried out by the Federal Court, being an open wound for our people because it is a crime without culprits ”, it starts the missive.
Last Friday, the guarantee judge Martín Arroyo ordered the restitution of a property of about 2 hectares belonging to the Archdiocese of San Isidro in April of this year by the lof Lafken Winkul Mapu.
He also charged four women in the group,
including the machi Betiana Colhuan.
The community has usurped about 30 hectares of territory of the Nahuel Huapi National Park and individuals in the sector.
The seizure began in November 2017 and since then they have carried out more than 100 attacks of all kinds against property, officials and neighbors.
The last was on October 19 when they attacked the governor of the province, Arabela Carreras, with insults and stones.
The property of the bishopric of San Isidro seen from an aerial capture.
“In this territory, it fulfills its role as the spiritual and philosophical authority of our people, the Machi Betiana Colhuan, a transcendent fact for the Mapuche people.
(…) The Río Negro Justice, due to the accusation of usurpation promoted by the Bishopric of San Isidro of Buenos Aires, has decreed an eviction on a 1-hectare plot of land.
that the same bishopric had left almost 2 years ago and that is currently occupied by the Community ”, they continue.
"The situation is complex and dangerous because the community is willing to resist the eviction and this can lead to another death," he warns.
The letter does not mention that the "Cabaña Hueche Ruca" was vandalized and partially dismantled by the militants.
Nor does it allude to the fact that neither the Council for the Development of Indigenous Communities (CODECI) nor the National Institute of Indigenous Affairs (INAI) has this lof registered as a community.
“At the same time, for a few months, the National government has started a dialogue process through a Table for the Alternative Resolution of Territorial Conflicts with Indigenous Peoples (…) Generating an eviction in these circumstances could lead to a breakdown of the dialogue with the national government and that the conflict over land is accentuated throughout Patagonia, with events that can be avoided if a position of dialogue and recognition of a history of dispossession to which all the native peoples of America have been exposed is assumed ”, indicate.
“Those of us who recognize history know that the arrival of colonization and evangelization has not been in peaceful terms, nor has it been one of dialogue and respect.
It was an imposition of violence and death whose effects have reached the society we live in today.
This evangelizing process transformed our lives (…) This historical process in Patagonia occurred 140 years ago and the Catholic Church that you lead today has had a fundamental participation, ”he reminds the pontiff.
“We advocate his role as the authority of the Catholic Church, his conscience and humanity to intercede with the bishopric of San Isidro.
We are looking for a small gesture of recognition towards a history that continues to run us from the territories that until recently were communal and without fences ”, he closes.
GS
