August 22, 2026.
fotos: Lof Melo and Quimquimtrew.
Throughout the day, participants protested the situation facing the communities and questioned Judge Bonorino’s actions, alleging that he had failed to respect indigenous rights and that human rights violations were occurring.
The mobilization also brought to light the state of all indigenous rights in Argentina and the failure to issue communal land titles to various communities.
History of the Conflict
We will not sell our land
The operation began on territories belonging to the Lof Kinxikew and Lof Melo communities, along National Route 40. The Mapuche Confederation criticized Judge Bonorino and the provincial government for ignoring their indigenous rights.
The conflict over Mapuche territories has escalated once again in the province of Neuquén. On Wednesday, an eviction operation began in territories occupied by the Lof Kinxikew and Lof Melo communities, located in the Coihue-Brazo Huemul area along National Route 40, between Villa La Angostura and Bariloche.
The communities’ demand is clear: that the police operation be withdrawn and a dialogue committee be established. Noelia Huenumil, Inan longko of the Lof Melo, told Economía Sustentable: “Right now, we continue to resist on the territory, and we will remain there because that is where we live, and we are on high alert.”
This is not a new conflict in Neuquén.
The conflict is not new. The communities have inhabited these territories for generations. In the case of the Lof Kinxikew, there is also a history of state recognition of their presence. In 2004, Nahuel Huapi National Park recognized their pre-existing presence, and in 2023, the National Institute of Indigenous Affairs recognized their current, traditional, and public occupation of part of the territory.
However, that recognition did not result in a communal land title. Legal proceedings to encroach on the territory began in 2011, and the conflict has continued in recent years. The case even reached the Supreme Court of Justice, which has yet to rule on the appeal filed by the community.
In 2024, the national government also repealed Law 26,160, which for nearly two decades had suspended evictions of Indigenous communities and established mechanisms to survey their territories.
Neuquen Union of the workers of the land
Today, the communities assert that more than 130 people live on the territory, including children and older adults. “We remain on the territory that sustains us, where more than 30 families and more than 40 children live,” stated representatives of the Mapuche Confederation.
The increase tension in the area is based on the subservience of the broke Milei government in tandem with the imperial lust of the US and the strategic geo political position of the area.
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano – Buenos Aires