Mendoza: protest by agricultural producers and neighbors against the transfer of land to the Mapuches

At 10 a.m., two caravans of simultaneous vehicles were launched in Mendoza to protest against the transfer of land to the Mapuche communities of the towns of Los Molles (Malargüe) and El Sosneado (San Rafael), motivated by the recognition of an alleged ancestral ownership over these properties.

One group of protesters concentrated in Pareditas, San Carlos (Valle de Uco), while the other moved from the south of the province. The two caravans will meet in El Sosneado, where by dint of horns and banners they will make their disagreement felt against the administrative decisions taken by the National Institute of Indigenous Affairs (INAI).

It should be remembered that the INAI has issued three resolutions in recent weeks that have benefited the aforementioned Mapuche communities. The first, number 36/2023, granted 23,370 hectares of San Rafael to Lof the sleepy; the second, 42/2023, gave Lof 3,500 meters to Malargüe Suyai Levfv. Finally, the third, 47/2023, granted an additional 4,477 hectares to Los Molles (Malargüe) in Lof Limay Kurref. It is worth alcarar that the basic forms of Mapuche social organization are called Lof or caví.

Since the measures were published, they have caused great controversy and numerous adverse reactions in the province of Mendoza. Governor, Rodolfo Suarez, filed an appeal for unconstitutionality before the Supreme Court of Justice with the support of the Advisory Council of the Government and the Office of the Attorney General.

Representatives of different economic activities and the population in general also demonstrated against it, not only because of the land transfer itself, but also because of the consequences that the decision of the INAI may have on the provincial economy. It is that part of the ceded land is on the Mendoza area of ​​Vaca Muerta. It is a region with high potential for the development of hydrocarbons.

One of the caravans, the one that met on Route 40, also participated Falklands War Veterans: “We are defending the sovereign rights of our lands, which did not originally belong to the Mapuches. They want to appropriate these lands. There are foreign interests behind this claim,” they explained, according to a report by Diario Uno de Mendoza.

(DEVELOPMENT)