The Lanin volcano it became a new source of conflict between the national government and the opposition. A few hours after the National Parks Administration (APN) decreed the emblematic tourist attraction in the south of the province of Neuquén as a “Mapuche sacred site”some leaders expressed themselves against the decision and the administration of Alberto Fernández.
Miguel Angel Picketto, former national senator for Together for Change (JxC), turned his annoyance on Twitter and considered that the APN decree violates “the sovereignty” of a renowned tourist spot in Argentina. “Strong repudiation of the National Parks decision to declare the Lanín Volcano a sacred Mapuche site. Once again, sovereignty is affected in a paradisiacal and touristic place in our country. An imbecility of this government. Soon all of Patagonia will be Mapuche”, says the tweet of the current auditor general of the Nation.
Along the same lines, the national deputy Maximilian Ferraro. “The Lanín volcano is a natural wonder, the heritage of all Argentines, not just a few. The National Parks decision violates national sovereignty and sets a dangerous precedent. NO to illegitimate tolls and illegal taking and clearing in Patagonia”, published the president of the ARI Civic Coalition on the bird’s social network.
The resolution communicated by the APN generated discomfort in different parts of Patagonia, such as in the province of Tierra del Fuego. Paul Xavier Whitenational senator for JxC, emphasized that the Lanín volcano “it is Argentine sovereign heritage” and blamed the national government for “the escalation of violence in Andean Patagonia.” Likewise, he asked: “Enough of complicity with the RAM mafia.”
The opposition’s rejection of the measure arranged by National Parks, an area chaired by Lautaro Eduardo Erratchu, adds to the previous criticism of Neuquén governor Omar Gutiérrez, who immediately showed his concern for the official nod to the Mapuche community. “The existence of national enclaves such as the National Parks Administration does not authorize to erase the letter of the Constitution, trampling the provincial constitutional powers,” Gutiérrez posted on his Twitter account. Then, the provincial president advanced the next steps that the province will take in the framework of the case: “We will initiate the corresponding administrative and legal actions in the face of this illegitimate and illegal act”.
“There are many institutional examples of dialogue, such as the co-management in the Pulmarí Interstate Corporation or the recent Free, Prior and Informed Consultation process. The Lanín is a symbol of Neuquén identity and belongs to all Neuquén men and women”, added the Neuquén governor.
Yesterday, during his participation in the celebrations for the 135th anniversary of Chos Malal, Gutiérrez clarified: “Events like this not only solve nothing, but we have one more problem. It is a faculty that concerns us and corresponds to us, as we are the owners of the resources of our land and our province”.
“It’s one more hit of what happens 1,100 kilometers away, that we suffer and have nothing to do with it. No to centralism, no to unilateralism. Yes to federalism, yes to the defense of our provincial autonomy. In all my years I have never seen a thing like this,” he emphasized.
APN, through the resolution 484 published last Wednesday, declared “Mapuche Sacred Natural Site to the Lanín Volcano”. The decree, voted by the board of directors of the national body, states that “the Management Plan of the Lanín National Park presents a comprehensive assessment, characterization and treatment of the Lanín Volcano, based on a diversity of knowledge, spiritual, cultural, aesthetic, historical meanings , social -among others- that it inspires”, as specified by the agency Telam.
“The sacred places are recognized as a conservation value for the communities and for the Protected Area, and especially the Lanín Volcano as one of them,” the document continues. In turn, it refers to the fact that “within the framework of their worldview, the authorities of the Mapuche People have requested this National Parks Administration to recognize the Lanín Volcano —Pijan Mawiza— as a Sacred Natural Site.”
Finally, the APN explained that “sacred sites are understood as those places, areas of water or land that have special spiritual significance for peoples and communities, where the sense of sacredness is linked to life, in terms of its origin, support and continuity, as well as to the territory, linking with the knowledge and cultural relations of an ancestral or modern people with its environment and its sense of place”.
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