Neuquén police carried out a partial eviction on a 624-hectare property disputed since 2011. The Mapuche communities denounce violence and deception, while the provincial government assures it was a peaceful operation. The court order would be completed this Thursday.

Operation on Route 40: Partial Eviction with Heavy Police Presence

On Wednesday, August 19, 2026, a large-scale operation by the Neuquén Police partially evicted a 624-hectare property located in the Paso Coihue area, at kilometers 2082 and 2083 of National Route 40, about 35 kilometers from Villa La Angostura (a picturesque town in Argentine Patagonia, near the border with Chile). The measure was ordered by civil judge Francisco Astoul Bonorino and was originally scheduled for Thursday but was moved up to the early morning hours.

The operation included officers from the Special Police Operations Group (GEOP) of Neuquén, National Gendarmerie, firefighters, court officials, and local doctors. According to official sources, forces cut the chains of the access gate and entered under the orders of Inspector Commissioner Miguel Ángel Poblete. The recovered section corresponds to the coast of Lake Nahuel Huapi, where there are no homes.

Context: the property has been under judicial dispute since late 2011, when members of the Mapuche Lof Melo community entered the land and prevented access to its owner, María Cristina Broers, who reported the usurpation in 2012. The Broers family has been the registered owner of the land since 1969.

Affected Communities: Kinxikew and Melo

The Lof Kinxikew (also known as Quintriqueo) and Lof Melo communities have inhabited these territories for centuries. According to CELS (Center for Legal and Social Studies), their presence in the area dates back to the 17th century, long before the founding of Villa La Angostura and Nahuel Huapi National Park. Together, they comprise more than 130 people, including 35 children and 17 elderly adults.

During the operation, the eviction order for the Quintriqueo community affected three homes. The lonko (community leader) Amancay Quintriqueo voluntarily left with her aunt. In another home, the occupant was not present. In the third, a woman with high blood pressure and diabetes had to be transported by ambulance. Families were allowed to take documents, medications, and pets, and temporarily moved to a relative's home in the Las Flores neighborhood of Villa La Angostura.

In the case of the Melo community, in the area known as El Pedregoso, the eviction could not be completed. The concentration of community members and supporters, the presence of children, and the absence of child protection agencies forced the GEOP forces to withdraw around 2:00 PM. Attorney Luis Virgilio Sánchez indicated that the community is “resisting” and that the procedure could be completed this Thursday.

Claims by the Mapuche Confederation

The Mapuche Confederation of Neuquén issued a statement denouncing a “violent dispossession” and accused Neuquén's Government Minister, Jorge Tobares, of having held phone conversations with community leaders while special forces entered “cutting chains and striking families.” The organization also denounced the blocking of telephone signals in the territory and criticized Governor Rolando Figueroa for his “policy of repressive violence.”

However, government and judicial sources in Neuquén denied the use of physical violence and stated that it was a peaceful and orderly operation in compliance with a firm court order.

The Legal Dispute: 15 Years of Litigation

The conflict began in late 2011, when members of the Melo family entered the property. In 2016, the civil judge of first instance in Junín de los Andes, Andrés Luchino, issued the eviction ruling. In August 2022, Judge Bonorino ordered its execution. In July 2023, the Court of Appeals rejected the community's appeals, and in February 2024, the Superior Court of Justice of Neuquén declared the extraordinary appeal inadmissible, leaving the ruling final.

The case is currently before the National Supreme Court of Justice through a complaint appeal that has not yet been resolved. In 2022, the Kinxikew community requested the technical survey established by Law 26.160, and in 2023, INAI (National Institute of Indigenous Affairs) issued Resolution 332 recognizing the community's “current, traditional, and public occupation.” However, this recognition did not translate into the delivery of communal property title.

Key Facts of the Conflict
  • Area: 624 hectares (Lote Pastoril 42, Colonia Nahuel Huapi)
  • Owner: María Cristina Broers (title holder since 1969)
  • Communities: Lof Kinxikew (Quintriqueo) and Lof Melo
  • Population: more than 130 people, 35 children, 17 elderly adults
  • Eviction order: final since 2024, partial execution on 08/19/2026
  • INAI recognition: Resolution 332/2023 (traditional occupation)

A Conflict That Transcends Territory

CELS recalled that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, in the case Lhaka Honhat vs. Argentina, established that the State must delimit indigenous lands and grant collective titles. Additionally, in December 2024, the national government repealed Law 26.160, which for nearly two decades had suspended evictions and ordered the survey of community territories.

The organization noted that evicting the communities “does not simply mean displacing a group of people from a property,” but rather causes “the rupture of the social fabric, the fragmentation of the community, and irreparable damage to their cultural identity.”

As of now, community members and neighbors remain present in the El Pedregoso area on alert and have called for increased support to resist any attempt to resume the operation.

Sources: Infobae, La Nación, Diario Andino, CELS. This is a developing story.