During the last forty years of democracy, the province of
San Luis
was under the power of the brothers
Alberto
and
Adolfo Rodríguez Saá
, but last year's electoral defeat exposed an unusual case: a former provincial minister, his private secretary and the son of the former governor
posed as chiefs of a Ranquel community
to administer millions of pesos that the government allocated, a field of 66 thousand hectares, more than 8,200 animals and rental contracts.
The main defendant in the complaint made by Governor Claudio Poggi
himself
(Cambia San Luis) is
Sergio Gustavo Freixes
, who in the government of Alberto Rodríguez Saá served as Minister of Legality - a management for which he was convicted in two instances and for which This year he could be imprisoned if the Supreme Court rejects his appeal.
Based on a provincial law of 2008, San Luis created the Registry of Native Communities and a year later the "Rankul Community" (ranquel) was registered with the Directorate of Legal Entities - the enforcement authority.
Located near the town of Batavia, in the south of the province and 50 kilometers from the border with Córdoba, the Ranqueles were recognized as having a ranch of
66 thousand hectares, more than three times the territory of the City of Buenos Aires.
The law of San Luis determines that the Provincial State is obliged to "provide advice, technical, administrative, cultural and economic support in a way that enables the full development of its culture, traditions, projects and values."
Thus the community elected its
"
lonko
"
(chief or administrator) and was established as the "San José Municipality of the Ranquel Town Establishment", with its own bank account in the Supervielle bank.
"
There were previous
lonkos
who did everything wrong
. At that time we asked the provincial government for help and they sent Sergio Freixes as interventionist. At first, the first three months, I wondered how the field was, but then he started to get involved. That "It was bad, because it left us all in a bad light.
He forged our signature, he was never accountable to the community
," assured Víctor Baigorria, current
lonko
of the Ranquel community, to the
San Luis News Agency
.
Since 2017, Freixes, Rodríguez Saá's strong man for the southern part of the province, was community controller.
But in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, what these
indigenous people consider a scam
began .
On April 21, 2020, the then Minister of Production, Juan Lavandeira, signed a special power of attorney to Freixes for "administrative and banking operations."
Establishment San José Municipality of the Ranquel Town, in San Luis, where a minister of Rodríguez Saá posed as a chief.
Since then, Freixes moved forward with the administration of the 66 thousand hectares, where he leased three segments of the field without contracts, disposed of the community's vehicles and, according to the official complaint, managed
$283,399,813
in funds that are now being investigated by the Financial Information Unit. of the Nation for possible money laundering.
"That power enabled Freixes to act without any control. But in addition, they invented a supposed assembly -
tawtum
, in the native language -, where the members signed what was a supposed note to the previous governor and named Freixes, Alberto Rodríguez Saá son and Sofía Elizabeth Aguilera -Freixes' private secretary-
as
lonkos
of the community
. They took the note, turned it into an assembly and presented it to the direction of Legal Persons of the province with the adulterated date,"
prosecutor José Olguín told
Clarín .
The Ranquels claim that for more than five years Freixes was not only the controller of the lands but
also acted as a feudal lord
.
Inside the huge room there are huge lagoons in which he didn't even let them go fishing.
"Every once in a while he slaughtered an animal and handed out bags of meat
," they recalled.
Víctor Baigorria, chief (lonko) of the Ranquel community of San Luis.
Photo: San Luis News Agency
But last year the elections accelerated Freixes' actions.
"I was afraid that they would lose power and I wanted
to enter as
a lonko
for 10 years
. They lost the election in June and two days before the change of mandate on December 10, they appeared to gather signatures for an alleged note to the governor," commented Carime Ali, wife of the current lonco Víctor Baigorria.
And she adds to Clarín: "
When I saw that he had forged my signature to make himself look crazy, I was crying out of anger
."
Freixes' rush to gather signatures on the night of December 7 in the middle of the stay was due to the change of mandate and a juicy figure that Governor Rodríguez Saá transferred by decree to the community's bank account.
"Four days before the end of the previous administration, the alleged
lonkos
, Freixes, Aguilera and Rodríguez Saá Jr.,
had a contribution transferred from the provincial treasury for $50 million
. I repeat, so that it is understood, on December 6, three days before At the end of his term, Governor Rodríguez Saá issued Decree No. 11,685 of 2023, where he transferred
$50 million to the accounts managed by Freixes and his son,
" Governor Poggi denounced in a video on December 27.
The funds that Sanluiseños do not have today to fulfill our basic commitments were taken by corruption and profiteers from the Provincial State.
I can't help but be amazed.
This also involves the Ranquel Community.
https://t.co/tePBqX7IWa
— Claudio Javier Poggi (@claudiojpoggi) December 27, 2023
The case against Freixes, for which he was brought to justice, is for ideological falsehood.
He deceived the signatories, invented an assembly dated August 17 and had himself appointed chief.
Clarín
contacted Rodríguez Saá Jr., he preferred not to make statements and stressed that
he did not receive any judicial notification for this reason.
The prosecutor in the case confirmed that he did not summon him.
Although in the usual comments at the ranch they stated that the governor's son went every now and then, in the testimonial statements
no one located him within the field
, although in the papers he appears as
lonko
in the minutes of the trout assembly.
In court for now, Freixes declared.
He made himself available and handed over the keys to the room.
This weekend they plan to finish the inventory of the ranch where there are at least 168 horses and more than 8,000 cows.
They accuse a former minister of Rodríguez Saá of posing as a chief: millions of pesos, buffaloes and a field three times the size of the City of Buenos Aires.
They also counted about
130 buffaloes that were never declared
to the National Agri-Food Health and Quality Service (Senasa), and for which the national organization ordered the ranch to regularize the situation so as not to close the ranch.
In the area there is a buffalo hunting reserve, but they never controlled the animals that reproduced and there were more than a hundred.
From the Ranquel community they express anger because they assure that there are vehicles and agricultural machinery that are in the name of Freixes due to that power that another minister of Rodríguez Saá signed for him in 2020 and it does not appear in an inventory nor do they know where it is.
"A community van appeared on the property of one of Freixes' collaborators with total destruction," Carime noted.
In a provincial resolution, the new government ordered both Freixes and Rodríguez Saá Jr. to "refrain from carrying out any act in the name and representation of the Community and/or assuming the character of
lonkos
, given that their designation and subsequent registration is not current."
And he appointed Darío Oviedo Helfenberger and Carlos Alberto Amondarain within the normalization process.
Establishment San José Municipality of the Ranquel Town, in San Luis, where a minister of Rodríguez Saá posed as a chief.
Sergio Freixes, Rodríguez Saá's "intimidator of judges"
In 2019, Chamber IV of the Criminal Cassation Chamber confirmed Sergio Gustavo Freixes and Edgar Mario Zavala, former minister and vice-minister of Legality of San Luis, to the sentence of six years in prison and disqualification from holding public office for 10 years for the crime of "aggravated coercion" against the judges who sought to enter the Judiciary of the province.
Zavala and Freixes were convicted in the first instance in November 2018 by the Federal Oral Court of San Luis, in a case that caused a scandal in the San Luis judicial system.
The events investigated occurred between 2004 and 2005. One of the main promoters of the file - she was the complainant who originated the case - who later testified as the main witness in the trial was the former chambermaid Marina Ziliotto.
They accuse a former minister of Rodríguez Saá of posing as a chief: millions of pesos, buffaloes and a field three times the size of the City of Buenos Aires.
In 2004, Ziliotto was appointed by the Puntano government as a chambermaid after winning a contest.
She was informed that before taking office she had to sign her resignation so that she could be used when the Executive branch needed it.
She spent a month as a waitress and her resignation was activated when they called her and she refused to report two waitresses.
Both appealed the ruling of the Chamber with an appeal to the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, which in San Luis they estimate that the highest court in the country will reject in the coming months.
Since Freixes is under 70 years old, they consider that he will eventually end up in prison.