Milei Declares Mapuche Ancestral Resistance a Terrorist Organization
People wave the flag of the Mapuche people. X/ @PEREYRALINO
February 5, 2025 Hour: 2:52 pm
Indigenous leader Jones Huala denied that his organization is responsible for wildfires in the Patagonia region.
On Wednesday, the government of far-right President Javier Milei announced that it will declare the group Ancestral Mapuche Resistance (RAM) a “terrorist organization.”
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“RAM will be declared a terrorist organization. The National Security Ministry is already working on the case file,” presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni announced.
“The government has revoked three resolutions that granted land to so-called Mapuches. In our territory, the only flag that flies is the Argentine one,” he added.
Besides revoking land grants in the Mendoza province, the Milei administration also eliminated a community strengthening program that provided Indigenous communities with legal assistance for territorial claims.
“In this way, the lands that were in the hands of terrorists are returned to Argentinians… The state was funding lawyers who acted against its own sovereignty,” Adorni asserted.
Last weekend, RAM leader Facundo Jones Huala defended acts of sabotage against infrastructure as a method of resistance against capitalism and its multinational corporations and landowners. However, he denied that RAM was responsible for the wildfires that have been spreading in Argentina’s Patagonia region since December.
“We have never done it, nor would we ever do it,” said the RAM leader. This group serves as the political-military arm of the Mapuche Autonomous Movement of Puel Mapu, an organization that claims ownership of Patagonian lands for Indigenous peoples.
Nevertheless, Chubut Governor Ignacio Torres accused Jones Huala of inciting citizens to set Patagonian forests on fire, with 20,000 hectares having been affected by wildfires so far.
On Tuesday, Milei changed the name of the Security Ministry to National Security Ministry as a signal of strengthening the institution and supporting his minister, Patricia Bullrich.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE
