The owners of everything also want to seize the water. In clear complicity, national and provincial governments allow the advancement of extractivist projects. The Parliament for Water and Territory was a very valuable contribution to move in that direction. To reach a conclusion, as a people, we must defend the territories; the territory, the water, and that we must be in communication, united, develop strategies because it affects all of us, all the territories. To this is added the acquisition by foreign millionaires of vast extensions of land that, in recent years, has accelerated alarmingly: the sources of rivers, lakes, and lagoons that receive water from melting snow are falling into the hands of a handful of people. The Quintupuray Community on the north side and Paicil Antriao on the south side are thus protected, but in permanent threat because they want to evict the Community from there simply to develop these ventures. "The Parliament was a deeply enriching exchange instance. It is being cared for, protected because it is a lake that unites two Communities. Image of the parliament for water and territories. It was promoted by the Lof Paicil Antriao together with the Mapuche Confederation of Neuquén, where different communities, political, and social organizations participated. By popular correspondent for ANRed. Summer has already arrived in Puelmapu, a territory also known as Argentine Patagonia, for several weeks. Authorities from the Coordinator of the Mapuche tehuelche Parliament of Río Negro were also present, as well as numerous social, political, and environmental organizations: the Frente Popular Darío Santillán, the Plurinational Current of Abya Yala, the Osvaldo Bayer Popular Library, the Mekorot Out Assembly of Viedma, the Piuke Ecological Organization, and neighbors from Mallín Ahogado, a rural area located near El Bolsón. Image of the parliament for water and territories. We consulted with Lonko Damián about his impressions after the day: "As a conclusion, by bringing the experiences from other territories, they came to share this talk where we could inform ourselves about the problems they have in their territories and also share what happens to us here. Therefore, on December 13 and 14, the parliament for water and territory was held to put in common the different resistance strategies and strengthen ties of solidarity. In Río Negro, the Calcatreu project is already in the execution process. When we consulted him about the problems the Community faces in the territory bordering Lake Correntoso and the reason for the call, he answered: "Mainly because of the threats. Projects that these developers have regarding lake tours, building a dock, launching boats, when this lake, the Lafken Correntoso, is clean. This is leaving many streams without water, the rivers are flowing with a lower flow than usual, which makes everything drier than usual. The inhabitants of different rural areas, towns, and even those who live in the large cities of the south, share a common concern: an atypical winter of scarce rains and snow has caused the first summer heats to leave the mountains without snow ahead of time. Also about our spiritual world, because we know that there are forces that are there that accompany us in our day to day and that also strengthen us, that we must take care of." The offensive that the Government is carrying out goes hand in hand with the colonialist plans of the world's power centers. The enemy is one, it is this extractivist, exploitative capitalism that does not take into account the lives of people or the biodiversity that inhabit those territories. It becomes urgent to think of strategies and political tools that allow us to rise to the occasion. The San Jorge mining project in Mendoza is part of a chain of investments that also affects Patagonia. Credits: popular correspondent for ANRed. During the event, the different situations related to the defense of water and territories being carried out by the different Communities and organizations of the Cordillera were exchanged. The fires, which have become a constant in recent summers, are a threat that is more present than ever, with different foci or beginnings of fires occurring in the region since November: in El Turbio, Bariloche, Villa la Angostura, Junín de los Andes, El Bolsón, Epuyén, and Puerto Patriada. Climate change and the increase in planetary temperature are not just a theoretical debate among academics; it is also a concern that appears in the word of those who live at the foot of the cordillera and, year after year, see how the glacier masses located above the hills are losing volume. Before concluding the meeting, Lonko Mauro Millán, of the Lof Pillan Mawiza, remembered the importance of participating in the launch of the Multisectoral that will take place on January 8 in the Nahuelpán Community. There, this coordination that is gaining more and more strength every day will continue to be promoted. See this post on Instagram. A post shared by Fm Che Comunitaria 90.5 (@fmchecomunitaria). Credits: popular correspondent for ANRed. The appropriation of vast extensions of land and freshwater sources by foreign millionaires, the increase in the temperature of the earth, climate change, and the approval of different extractivist projects are some of the concerns that haunt the thinking of those who inhabit the territories. In addition, the approval of more than 400 oil wells on the shores of Lake Mari Menuko and the Barreales in the province of Neuquén has already been carried out to deepen extraction with the fracking model, recognized for being highly polluting. For all these reasons, on the weekend of December 13 and 14, the Lof Paicil Antriao together with the Mapuche Confederation of Neuquén called to participate in the Regional Parliament for Water and Territory. To the territory located on the shores of Lake Correntoso, members of different Communities approached: there they arrived with their word representatives of the Las Huaytekas Community, the Lof Curruhuinca, Nahuelpan, Pillan Mawiza, and Futa Txayen. The different forms of resistance that are being developed were put in common, and the need to deepen solidarity ties to resist the extractivist and privatizing onslaught on the territories was debated. To reflect on the activity, we approached the territory to talk with Damián Olivero, Lonko of the Lof Paicil Antriao.
