The repeal of the Indigenous Territorial Emergency Law (Ley 26.160) has triggered a serious subsistence crisis for the native communities in northern Argentina, especially in places like Playpenin the San Martín department, Salta. The communities, mainly from the town Wichifind themselves in a legal limbo that exposes them to criminalization by the ranchers neighbors.
The situation is critical: although they have the territorial survey and the technical folder of the HENNA (National Institute of Indigenous Affairs), which proves their ancestral occupation, this recognition does not grant them the title of property or the legal security to access natural resources.
Prisoners for “Wood Theft”
The most alarming case was recorded three months ago, when two members of the Corralito communities were arrested and prosecuted for “wood theft”.
Ángel Amancio, a Wichí leader in the area, told Vive frustration and inequality before justice. «When you want to get something for your family’s subsistence, a farmer comes and files a complaint,» he said. Amancio pointed out the contrast: while the creoles y ranchers of the area carry out clearings for livestock without consequences, the same activity carried out by indigenous residents is considered a crime.
The affected communities (including Laguna Cuchuy, Quebracho and San José) denounce that in the courts their technical folder from the INAI is discarded as a «invalid paper» to defend their right to land and its resources.
The Official Argument: A Resource Conflict
From the provincial government of Salta, the Undersecretary of Territorial Regularization, Ariel Sánchez, minimized the territorial conflict and focused it on the problem of the resources.
According to Sánchez, by not having the definitive property title, the communities they cannot process the legal guides for the extraction and sale of wood. This leads to the fact that, since they do not have legal access, extraction for their subsistence ends in reports of theft by the owners of the surrounding farms.
The official acknowledged that, after the repeal of Law 26,160, the INAI survey only serves as proof of its «bond with the land» in an eventual eviction trial, but no longer offers territorial protection or legal access to livelihoods.
Currently, defendants must report to the police station weekly, and there are rumors that they could face trial. While the province seeks to move forward with agreements to accelerate surveys of communities at «risk or danger» of eviction, the reality of criminalization complicates day by day the subsistence of those who inhabit the ancestrally recognized land.
