[ad_1]
Dozens of people attacked the vehicle carrying the Argentine president with blows and stones this Saturday Alberto Fernandez in the province of Chubut (to the south), where he moved to verify the damage of gigantic forest fires.
Fernández gave a press conference before the incidents, during which he asserted that he traveled to “listen to the people” and announced help for those affected by the fire. Outside the scene, the protesters were protesting loudly.
Upon retiring from a community center in the town of Lago Puelo, Fernández must have been protected by a human runner before the advance of the protesters towards the presidential entourage.
When the president was going to his vehicle, he had to rush towards the open door. Television footage showed the president arriving at his seat next to a window and protesters banging on the glass for several minutes, while first lady Fabiola Yañez tried to sit up to watch and someone asked her to remain seated.
The angry protesters then stopped the passage of the truck in which Fernández was traveling, hitting it with their fists and throwing stones that caused the glass to break, according to the images of the TN chain and the Clarín newspaper.
Faced with a scant police presence, the mob managed to stop the caravan of vehicles for several minutes, even throwing themselves against the hood of the presidential van. After the vehicle that was transporting the president was released, several vans were observed leaving at high speed among the protesters.
According to the Clarín newspaper, The protesters were protesting against mining projects in the province of Chubut and also against the district governor, Mariano Arcioni.
Hours after the attack, the president reacted on his Twitter account.
I appreciate the messages of solidarity received. They test the loneliness in which the violent express themselves.
As for me, each neighbor of the Andean Region knows that I am by their side without conditions to be able to overcome this ungrateful moment as soon as possible.– Alberto Fernández (@alferdez) March 13, 2021
“The violence that a few have shown on the occasion of my visit to Lago Puelo, does not accompany that vocation that drives us. I am sure that this violence is not shared by the Chubut people and by those who inhabit our beloved Argentina, “said the head of state.
Meanwhile, the ex-president and predecessor of Fernández in office, the liberal Mauricio Macri, repudiated the attack.
“Violence is never the way. I repudiate what happened today in Chubut during the president’s visit. Any difference has to be resolved through dialogue, ”Macri also said on Twitter.
Devastating fires
Fernández toured the area of fires that leave one dead, 11 missing, dozens of evacuees and more than 250 houses destroyed by the flames that hit the forest and lake region of Argentine Patagonia this week.
The fires, allegedly intentional according to the authorities, broke out at the beginning of the week reaching the towns of Lago Puelo, El Bolsón, El Maitén, Epuyén, Futaleufú, El Hoyo and Las Golondrinas, near the foothills of the Andes.
The charred corpse of a rural worker, who had been missing since Tuesday, was found in the town of El Maitén, local authorities reported on Friday.
“The fire reached more than two hundred homes and there are still eleven people of whom we do not know their whereabouts,” Environment Minister Juan Cabandié told reporters at the time, updating the number of disappeared, which stood at 15 on Wednesday.
In the provinces of Chubut, Río Negro and Neuquén, affected by the fires, dozens of brigade members were operating with the support of fire trucks, fire hydrants and helicopters to contain the flames.
According to the minister, “the intentionality of the fires is manifested from the simultaneity at the start in seven localities, which in a period of three hours had a fire. It was very planned ”.
Legal experts begin to work to determine responsibilities.
Fires devoured tens of thousands of hectares in Argentina last year. They were caused by the hand of man, mostly for speculative purposes for planting or real estate, according to authorities.
The flares this week left “tremendous damage,” the minister said. “There is no water in Lago Puelo, in Epuyén, in El Maitén or in Las Golondrinas. There is no electricity”.
[ad_2]
