by DANIELLA FERNANDEZ
On February 11, 2025, as more than 50,000 hectares of forests burned in Patagonia in the heat of the Argentine summer, the government of the southern province of Chubut, led by Ignacio Agustín Torres, ordered simultaneous police operations against 12 Indigenous Mapuche communities.
The raids were brutal: houses were sacked, elderly people were beaten in front of children, books were seized, community radio stations were pillaged, and Victoria “Vic” Núñez Fernández was arrested.
Núñez Fernández, a 37-year-old born in Ituzaingó, Buenos Aires, first arrived at Lof Pillañ Mawiza, a community located in Corcovado, Chubut, in 2020. The mere presence of a vehicle similar to theirs in the general vicinity of the raid was enough to implicate them as a co-perpetrator of the Amancay ranch fire on Route 71. They were charged with three criminal counts, including participation in an illegal association and disturbing the peace. Contrary to statements by government sources, Núñez Fernández is not of Mapuche descent.
Argentina’s judicial and media apparatus used Núñez Fernández’s arrest as part of a campaign of criminalization and disinformation they have been building for decades. In this narrative, the Mapuche and Tehuelche peoples of Patagonia are presented as “terrorists” and enemies of the state, as are allies who work in solidarity with Indigenous peoples. This has extended to include volunteer fire fighters, who, at the beginning of the year, tried to put out the fires the government ignored.
On closer examination, there’s a recurring pattern behind the fires and state violence. The objective is to clear the way for the handover of territories to real estate developers, extractive industries, and military forces. Without resistance from Indigenous peoples and activists, Patagonia could be made available to business interests and carved up to suit foreign investors.
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