Lago Escondido: Grabois left the camp and targeted Joe Lewis's "patoteros"

Members of the Movement of Excluded Workers (MTE), who traveled to Lago Escondido on Tuesday to demand the recovery of those lands held by British magnate Joe Lewis, ended a camp on Wednesday in the place and warned that they will "do it again every time necessary" to recover "that piece of sovereignty that the English invader stole from us. There is a ruling that orders the release of the roads bordering the property of the tycoon.

"We are very proud of what we have done. We came with an objective that was to spend 24 hours in the national territory of Lago Escondido. The lakes are the property and patrimony of all the people and no one has the right to close access," he said at the end of the camp the leader Juan Grabois in a press conference that he offered this Wednesday afternoon in El Bolsón.

In this context, he added: "With the little strength we have, which is our own bodies, for at least one day we were able to recover that piece of sovereignty that the English invader and his accomplices in Argentina stole from us," referring to the tycoon Joe Lewis.

Grabois denounced that during the day they suffered different types of hostilities from Lewis' mobs. "Verbal threats and intimidation of hooded people, mobilization of patoteros on horseback and with dogs escorted by the Río Negro police and fence of land to prevent the departure of a group that had to leave the place for reasons of force majeure. These are some of the practices that strained the exercise of sovereignty and public access to the Lake," the MTE said in a statement.

However, the militants confirmed that they will remain in Lago Escondido "for an indefinite period" as a sign of protest and called for "the presence of federal forces to guarantee the safety of those who are defending our sovereignty, in the face of intimidation by Lewis' mobs."

British magnate joe lewis owns nearly 12,000 hectares in Lago Escondido, a spot located in the Río Negro mountain range. However, since 2005 he has been in conflict with Argentine laws.

The Chamber of Bariloche this year ordered the province of Río Negro to guarantee the population transit through an access road to Lago Escondido, adjacent to Lewis's property, within a period of three months.

Read more: Juan Grabois entered Joe Lewis's ranch in Lago Escondido to denounce the lawfare

The Justice of Bariloche thus ratified a 2013 ruling that ordered the opening of this Andean trail in a case that began 17 years ago. However, the government of Arabela Carreras decided to appeal that decision before the superior Court of Justice of the province.

According to the Civil Code of the Argentine Republic, rivers and lakes are in the public domain (article 2,340), while the Constitution of the province of Río Negro "ensures" free access for recreational purposes to the banks of domain water mirrors. public (article 73).

Last April, the General Inspection of Justice (IGJ) required the judicial intervention of the hidden lake SA firm, owned by Lewis, considering it a "legal screen" to "stop the aspiration" of anyone to access Lago Escondido.

Members of the Movement of Excluded Workers (MTE), who traveled to Lago Escondido on Tuesday to demand the recovery of those lands held by British magnate Joe Lewis, ended a camp on Wednesday in the place and warned that they will "do it again every time necessary" to recover "that piece of sovereignty that the English invader stole from us.