The governor of Chubut, Ignacio Torres, confirmed that rain is expected today that would alleviate the situation in areas affected by forest fires, and he called for a law of 'Ecocide' to provide severe penalties for those who intentionally start fires.
'The authors of intentional fires must be in prison for the same time it takes for the native forest to recover,' stated the official in statements to Radio Rivadavia.
Torres expressed his support for a project that 'includes the figure of 'ecocide,' which 'we have been requesting for years,' and which, according to what Noticias Argentinas agency could learn, has already been presented in the Upper House by National Senator Edith Terenzi.
He announced that 'between today and tomorrow' a batch of funds destined to help 'the families who lost absolutely everything' will arrive in the province, and highlighted that the fight against the fire was carried out with the support of the national government 'as rarely seen before.'
'There is a accompaniment of the Nation as rarely seen, a joint work and infrastructure,' he added.
'To see so many water tanker planes and helicopters working at the same time, it's true that it hasn't been seen in a long time, and it's the result of setting aside any political pettiness,' Torres emphasized.
Torres highlighted that in the fight against the fire, 'there is no distinction between the Nation and the province, not when it is necessary to enter the jurisdiction of Los Alerces National Park or provincial jurisdiction,' and he stressed: 'The work was done well, and the Minister of the Interior (Diego Santilli) made himself available from minute one.'
After demanding harsher penalties for the authors of intentional fires, he gave an example from 2025, when the Chubut authorities 'caught two people in the act of setting fire in the town of Cholila due to a problem between neighbors.'
'A neighbor set fire to the farm of another, we caught them with the cans in their hands, they were reported, they were convicted, and they were in prison for less than a month,' he lamented.
