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The International Police Organization, more commonly known as Interpol, has joined the search for Santiago Maldonado, the activist who disappeared over two weeks ago during a raid by the military police in a Mapuche town.
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Interpol added the young man to its list of “disappeared people” with three photographs to help to identify him. The force's website says he was last seen in “Vuelta del Río, Paraje Leleque, province of Chubut.”
The day before, Security Minister Patricia Bullrich met with a commission in the Senate, and affirmed that there was “no evidence” the military police was involved in his disappearance.
Bullrich also urged the country not to “stigmatize” the security forces.
However, some Mapuche residents have testified that the military police did detain Maldonado.
His family condemned Bullrich's statement in a message broadcast via Whatsapp, accusing her of denying the activist's disappearance.
On Tuesday, the Catholic Church issued a communique recalling the history of forced disappearances in the country: “The Argentine people has paid a heavy price in the defense of life, law, and institutions.”
“We can't remain indifferent before situations that could mean a step back on the matter,” read the statement from the Episcopal Conference Argentina, or CEA.
Maldonado was last seen during a military police eviction operation against the Pu Lof Mapuche community in the Chubut department of Cushamen. Witnesses say they saw officers shove the young man into a van and drive away.
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