There are very critical moments in the Lago Escondido area where a group of over 150 people try to enter the private road that connects Route 40 with the banks of the water source, crossing 10 private fields, including that of the English entrepreneur Joe Lewis.
The demonstrators are members of the Kirchnerist organizations who have joined the appeal March 7 for the Sovereignty of Lago Escondido. They are led by Jorge Rachiddoctor of Milagros Sala.
On Tuesday there was a first peaceful attempt to enter through the fence that divides the public space from the private fields, but this Wednesday, February 1, the protesters began to attack the more than 50 Patagonian gauchos who put their bodies and their horses behind the gate
The decision to cross at any cost was taken during the night by the leaders of the procession in the framework of a meeting in El Bolsón.
“We are tired, very tired of all this, we are country people, very tame, but we are reaching the limit of our patience,” Pablo Puchi, owner of a farm in the area, told Clarín. “They came by bus, they wanted to get over it, there are patoteros, barras bravas, many people from Buenos Aires, who have come here and they don’t know about this problem,” he adds.
Yesterday, Tuesday 31 January, some of the militants returned to their cities of origin, but another, made up of over 150 people, continued to keep vigil next to the fence. Another group, led by Rachid, entered the mountain pass and spent the day resting in the Soberanía lagoon, next to which they lit a fire and even went kayaking, two activities prohibited by the Rio Environment Secretariat. Negro due to the fragility of the nature that surrounds it and the particularity of its waters.
Protesters are trying to remove the wires that protect the top of the gate while constantly insulting the gauchos who don’t move from the sector. The peasants locate loudspeakers from which chamamé is heard mingling with the screams.
The column tries to reach Lago Escondido by the road called Tacuifí and ending on the property where Lewis has his villa.
Last December, Juan Grabois, along with a group of 100 followers, set up a 24-hour camp near the businessman’s home.
But this time the march intends to extend their stay, so about 30 groups of El Foyel arrived in the area with 1 ton of supplies, including tents and food.
“They can’t pass, this is private property”, was the first response of the baqueanos who resisted the advance on Tuesday. This Wednesday the situation has become much more tense as protesters try to tear down the fence and force their way through.
About 70 agents of the Río Negro Police operate in the sector, but they have devoted themselves mainly to observation.
The militants carried numerous banners, one of which reads: “British out of Patagonia and the Malvinas”. However, Lago Escondido is more accessible now than it was under its former owners, the Monteros, say area residents. Thus, in the 90s, the Tacuifí street was called Montero and was basically a track.
Every year it promotes the Interactive Foundation for the Promotion of Water Culture (Fipca). Among the participating organizations, it is estimated that there will be a total of 120, including La Cámpora, the Coordination Table for the Defense of the Sovereignty of the Paraná River, the Popular Movement of Los Pines, the Workers’ Socialist Movement, the Front of left, Grupo Bolivar and Grupo por the soberand.
Last year, the Bariloche Court of Appeal upheld a 2013 decision to enable the Tacuifí road, the measure being challenged in the Río Negro Superior Court.
Source: Clarin
