SAN CARLOS DE BARILOCHE.- The Mapuche Confederation of Neuquén reported today that employees of the YPF company forcibly entered the territory of the Newen Kura lof, in the town of Rincón de los Sauces. Two Mapuche women who tried to prevent the entry of the oil company personnel were detained by the Police around noon, although hours later they were released.
Moments of tension were experienced around 11 in the entry of a deposit operated by YPF on the outskirts of that Neuquén town. The women who They remained detained for obstructing the passage of oil company employees They are the logko (political boss) Antonia Molina and his werken (spokesperson) Karen Sanchez.
“The Neuquén Police repress the Newen Kura community of Rincón de los Sauces and detain its authorities to allow YPF to enter by force. With this action [el gobernador neuquino Rolando] ‘Rolo’ Figueroa breaks almost a decade where respectful dialogue based on the law was what resolved all conflicts”indicated from the Mapuche Confederation of Neuquén.
In addition to qualifying the episode as a “abuse of power”They added: “It is not possible at this point for an oil company to enter Mapuche territory without applying the Right to Prior Consultation. Even worse is that Figueroa does not decide to create the Registry of Communities as required by the decree of the previous governor Omar Gutiérrez. These are promises that, 5 months into the government, there is no sign of them coming to fruition. And it allows communities to be beaten like in the worst times.”
Free, prior and informed consultation is the right of indigenous or native peoples to be consulted in advance about legislative or administrative measures that directly affect their collective rights, their physical existence, cultural identity, quality of life or development.
Meanwhile, YPF sources consulted by THE NATION They indicated: “YPF maintains its policy of permanent dialogue with indigenous communities in search of reaching coexistence agreements and respecting current legal frameworks. Likewise, it respects the decisions that Justice makes in the event of impediments, seeking to guarantee the works essential for the energy development of the province and the country.”
As explained by the company, the staff was looking to develop a particular task, in this case, a water intake. But the entrance had remained blocked for a few days. A week ago, the prosecutor in the case Rocio Rivero had notified the Mapuche community about the entry of YPF workers into the territory.
And during this morning, The prosecutor’s office ordered the lof to “cease the obstruction of circulation within a maximum period of one hour and proceed to release the blockade by removing all types of elements that obstruct the free movement of vehicles and people involved in oil and related activities.”
The Newen Kura Mapuche community is located on both sides of provincial route 6, about 17 kilometers from Rincón de los Sauces.. For 8 years they have been claiming their legal status. In turn, for years the community has held the YPF company responsible for pollution in the territory.
In September 2022, based on the intervention of the Criminal Mediation and Conciliation Office of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, YPF and the Newen Cura community committed to developing a joint approach plan in the territory corresponding to the “Puesto Hernández-Chihuidos” area. , in Rincón de los Sauces.
The protests of the Mapuche community in the fields and the criminal complaints filed by the oil company led to that call for a dialogue table.
However, the dialogue did not prosper. In June of last year, members of the Newen Kura lof stopped the work of the company Pecom and its contractor YPF in the same area and warned: “Surprisingly and without consultation, they have opened a huge wound in community lands in a few hours, failing to comply with all “the protocols that must be followed before planning a work on community land.”