The Mapuche Tehuelche community of the Lof Pailako in Chubut, Argentina, are facing forced eviction from their ancestral lands. On Thursday, January 2, 2025, a court official arrived in the community along with federal police and personnel from Los Alerces National Park to give notice of eviction on January 9, “by force” if the community does not vacate voluntarily. This eviction is already taking place at the hands of the Esquel Operational Unit of the Federal Police.
The legal battle reached a tipping point on December 27, 2024, when federal judge Otranto authorized the National Parks Agency to carry out the eviction, leaving the community without the possibility of filing further appeals. In addition, throughout the judicial process, the community had no right or opportunity to defend itself; they could not present evidence to demonstrate their traditional and ancestral connection to the territory, and the courts ruled simply according to what was stated by the National Parks Administration. These types of actions reveal the bias and collusion of the Argentine judiciary with a State that seeks to expel Indigenous Peoples from their ancestral territories.
This eviction threatens to cut off their deep connection with their land and their cultural survival, representing the most recent step in the process of continuous harassment, criminalization, and violent threats suffered by the Lof Pailako, similar to those suffered by other Indigenous communities in Argentina. This violence has been accentuated by the president’s announcement in December 2024 repealing Law 26160 of the Indigenous Territorial Emergency, which suspended evictions and ordered the surveys of Indigenous communities’ territories.
Cultural Survival supports the community's struggle to recover their ancestral territory in the face of racist and institutional violence by the provincial and federal governments. We also call on the Argentine authorities to immediately stop the eviction of the community and to cease the criminalization and persecution of the Mapuche Peoples.
Argentina is bound to respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights by international instruments. This respect is not negotiable and must be guaranteed beyond transitory private interests.
#NoAlDesalojoDelLofPailako
Communication channels with the Mapuche Lof Pailako community:
Email: red.apoyo.pailako@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lof.pailako
