The governors of Río Negro, Chubut, La Pampa, Neuquén, and Santa Cruz requested on Tuesday that Congress treat the Forest Fire Emergency Law as 'urgent' within the framework of extraordinary sessions, following a virtual working meeting. The meeting was attended by the governors of Río Negro, Alberto Weretilneck; Chubut, Ignacio Torres; La Pampa, Sergio Ziliotto; Neuquén, Rolando Figueroa; and Santa Cruz, Claudio Vidal. During the meeting, the leaders agreed on 'the seriousness of the situation facing the Patagonian region as a result of the forest fires recorded in recent months.' They noted that during this period, more than 168,000 hectares were burned in La Pampa, 45,000 in Chubut, 6,000 in Neuquén, as well as 10,000 in Río Negro and 700 in Santa Cruz, bringing the regional total to nearly 230,000 affected hectares. The governors highlighted the joint work being carried out with the national government through the National Fire Management System and valued the operational deployment and interjurisdictional coordination. However, they emphasized that the magnitude of the fires and the impact of the climate crisis in Patagonia require extraordinary resources and tools, both for fire suppression and for assisting affected communities and the environmental and productive recovery of the damaged areas. The governors informed that they had contacted the Minister of the Interior, Diego Santilli, to whom they communicated their decision to move forward with this proposal before Congress to achieve the prompt sanction of the Forest Fire Emergency Law during the extraordinary session period, as reported by the Argentine News Agency. The sanction of this norm would allow for the unlocking of extraordinary funds, the speeding up of the incorporation of aerial means and equipment, the strengthening of coordination between the Nation and the provinces, direct assistance to affected populations, and the planning of a comprehensive response to fires and their consequences.
