In an exclusive film record for Channel C, it can be seen how tourists and neighbors who need to travel along Route 40 must be escorted by Gendarmerie troops to cross the Rio Negro town of Villa Mascardi.
It should be remembered that this location, located in the Bariloche Department, has been marked for a long time by the conflict with Mapuche groups that claim possession of the land. Villa Mascardi is a strategic place because whoever wants to continue south has to go through there.
In the city of Bariloche, located 36 kilometers from Villa Mascardi, the Mapuche theme is not lived on the surface, but is in tranquility, as is El Bolsón, Lago Puelo (150 km south of Bariloche). According to the registry, it was observed that in these places there is even a Mapuche community living in the Motoco Refuge, where all the people live in a normal way and are integrated into society, and in many cases living from tourism.
It should be remembered that days ago, in Villa la Angostura, north of Bariloche, these radicalized groups burned 4 road teams of a company, attacked a night watchman and burned the land.
“The videos are from Villa Mascardi, there are checkpoints at the entrance and exit of the town. They control the vehicle, they make you cross the town without letting you stop. Everything is calm, the original Mapuche themselves are unaware of these people and the attacks,” said José Aiassa, who was able to take the images seen below.
Crossing Route 40 you can see houses and tourist complexes that were attacked in the past. “They are spaces recovered by the Federal Police and the Gendarmerie. Everything is very quiet, but with a large presence of uniformed men,” explains Aiassa.
In the video you can see how a local police van escorts the private vehicles that circulate along the road to cross the entire town of Villa Mascardi safely. “You can see in the background the blue lights of the truck that leads the line of cars that crosses.”