Original article: Comunidad mapuche denuncia penalmente a ministra de Milei por incluir a integrantes en registro de organizaciones terroristas

Mapuche Community Files Criminal Complaint Against Minister Bullrich for Listing Members as Terrorists

The Mapuche communities and representatives in Patagonia have filed a criminal complaint through the Argentine Association of Lawyers against Patricia Bullrich, the National Minister of Security under Javier Milei, citing abuse of authority and non-compliance with public official duties.

This legal action, lodged in Federal Court No. 12 under Judge Ariel Lijo, was sparked by the «libertarian» administration’s decision to include the Ancestral Resistance Mapuche (RAM) and members of the Lof Lafken Winkul Mapu in the Public Register of Persons and Entities linked to Acts of Terrorism and Their Financing (RePET), as part of a new escalation from the far-right Argentinian leader aimed at criminalizing communities and plundering territories.

The registration was formalized through Resolution 210/2025 from the Ministry of Security, published in the Official Bulletin on February 14, 2025.

The organization expressed that this represents «one of the most severe persecutions against indigenous communities,» which «opens the door to further persecution directed at any organization, community, or collective that could obstruct the political agenda of looting.»

Laura Taffetani, a lawyer for the Association, outlined the severity of the situation during a press conference, indicating that the ongoing stigmatization of Mapuche communities in the media and dramatic operations orchestrated by Bullrich aim to create an environment justifying the inclusion of a so-called RAM entity—whose existence Justice has yet to demonstrate—in the RePET list of terrorism.

This has adversely affected members of the Lafken Winkul Mapu community at Lake Mascardi—Luciana Jaramillo, María Isabel Nahuel, Joana Colhuan, Jesica Bonefoi, Matías Santana, and Gonzalo Coña—who were added to the list, resulting in their bank accounts and virtual wallets being blocked, withholding of universal child allowance, and even a disability pension.

According to Huella Del Sur, the attorney emphasized that none of the six Mapuche community members nor the alleged RAM are on any international list to justify their inclusion in RePET, and that «previously, Facundo Jones Huala from Lof Cushamen was added, imprisoned in Rawson for his statements during a poetry book launch, currently on a hunger strike.»

“They have placed all Mapuche organizations under scrutiny linking them to these alleged RAM; they cancelled access to bank accounts, pensions, and AUH and included at least six members in a terrorist list (…) Neither RAM nor these individuals are on any international list,” said the lawyer.

Taffetani stated that the complaint presented to the courts claims that «the overreach of the Ministry of Security in its powers undoubtedly constitutes an abuse of authority that is clearly laid bare, the consequences of which are of a magnitude that cannot yet be fully understood. While these actions, being public acts, enjoy a presumption of legitimacy, that does not exempt the acting official from criminal responsibility for the abuse of authority exercised and the non-compliance with public office duties resulting from the violation of rights and regulations incurred in their issuance.»

She warned that «the creation of the List of Annexed Cases and the subsequent inclusion of certain Mapuche Community members in the list of terrorists has no parallels except with the last military dictatorship, where political militants and students were included, who were later kidnapped, tortured, and disappeared.»

Meanwhile, Luis Virgilio, another lawyer for the Association, explained that to be listed in this way there must be a resolution from the UN Security Council, not the whims of a minister campaigning for a Senate seat like Bullrich.

“Minister Bullrich is not new to attempting to create an internal enemy; she did this during (Mauricio) Macri’s administration. She commissioned a joint report with the heads of prosecutors in Neuquén and Río Negro, creating a RAM report that they publicly disseminated,” he recalled.

“However, when the investigation was conducted by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office in Neuquén, that theory was dismissed; the ruling stated that the RAM organization did not even exist. But when this ruling came out, it was swept under the rug,” the lawyer added.

Virgilio characterized the government’s «libertarian» decision to include RAM and members of Lof Lafken Winkul Mapu in the RePET as an «aggravated crime.»

“This is a crime, aggravated by a pattern where all individuals are either part of or linked to Mapuche communities; it’s discriminatory bias and persecution of a sector. Another aggravating factor is access to public information, which is regulated and must be accurate and truthful. The Ministry of Security cannot label any organization as terrorist; that is within the purview of the UN Security Council,” he stressed.

Attorney Gustavo Franquet, who is also part of the Association and filed a complaint against the Minister of Security under Milei, criticized the irregularities in the process applied to Jones Huala.

“Huala has not been accused; he is only under investigation for criminal organization based solely on political statements. Since they couldn’t find others that make up that supposed organization, they invent this connection with the communities, including them in the list,” he stated, as quoted by Huella del Sur.

Bullrich Confronted at Campaign Event: «Murderer of Santiago Maldonado»

Alongside the criminal complaint against her, Patricia Bullrich faced a tense moment during a campaign tour in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of La Boca, as a local resident reminded her of the cases of Santiago Maldonado and Rafael Nahuel.

The current Minister of Security under Milei, during Macri’s administration had control of the Gendarmerie which repressed individuals from indigenous communities demanding their rights.

Maldonado disappeared on August 1, 2017, during a National Gendarmerie operation ordered by Bullrich to suppress a protest by the Mapuche community of Pu Lof Cushamen in Chubut, concerning claims for ancestral lands between Route 40 and the Chubut River.

The craftsman’s body was found 78 days later, 400 meters upstream from where he had last been seen, in an area that, as his family had repeatedly pointed out, had already been searched three times with efforts that included helicopters, drones, and tracking dogs without any findings.

In a similar incident, young Mapuche Rafael Nahuel, aged 22, lost his life after being shot twice in the back on November 25, 2017, just two days after the eviction of his Lafken Winkul Mapu community.

The shots were fired by members of the Albatross Group, a special operations unit under the command of the Argentine Naval Prefecture, who were later convicted by the Argentine judiciary.

In a video circulating on social media, the moment can be seen where the neighbor approaches Bullrich pretending to support her, only to turn and confront her regarding the cases of Maldonado and Nahuel.

“We will always remember you as the murderer of Santiago Maldonado and Rafael Nahuel, and the assaulter of the elderly,” she said.

Following this, the Minister of Milei distanced herself from the woman and avoided commenting on Rafael Nahuel’s closed case; however, she reacted concerning Santiago Maldonado’s case, which is currently being re-investigated by Federal Judge Fernando Calvete.

“Oh, look! I ask you, please, not to lie,” Bullrich stated. “It’s not me who is lying; it’s the justice system that vindicates me,” the neighbor replied.

“He drowned, lady,” Bullrich insisted, while the woman reminded her that “they searched the river eight times in the same place they found him.”

While confronting Bullrich, she also referenced the anti-protest protocol that her ministry mandates to repress social demonstrations that routinely occur in the Plaza de los Dos Congresos, where Federal Forces take to the streets and even assault senior citizens and those who are retired.

“I’m not the inventor; it’s the justice system that vindicates me (…) I also want to remind you that even if tomorrow you kill all the retirees, we will still remember you as the assaulter of the elderly,” the neighbor charged at Bullrich.

Faced with this complaint, the libertarian senatorial candidate responded visibly annoyed and shouting: “Don’t lie anymore, lady. You are a liar, how do you lie?”