A-Infos (en) Italy, UCADI, #204 - Patagonia: The Promised Land (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Early this year, multiple fires were recorded in Argentina, or rather, 
Patagonia. While Chubut province is experiencing its worst drought since 
1957, many of the fires are clearly intentional. ---- Indeed, the 
phenomenon is not new: Patagonia, including the Chilean portion, has 
been plagued by fires destroying thousands of acres of land for years. 
The explanation given by local authorities, starting with Governor 
Torres, is that the culprits are among the local population, the 
Mapuche, who are protesting against landowners (including the Benetton 
family) who already control large swathes of the land. The fact remains 
that in Argentina, the only person (of Mapuche ethnicity) formally 
charged was ultimately acquitted because he wasn't even present in the 
area at the time of the fire. On the other hand, there are eyewitnesses 
(including national park rangers) who claim to have seen Israeli 
tourists lighting fires in areas where it is strictly prohibited. In 
reality, however, no reports have ever been followed up. The only 
exception, in Chile, is the case of Rotem Singer, who was ultimately 
found guilty of starting a fire that devastated 15,000 acres more than a 
decade ago.
"Sentence? $7,000, never paid, and exempted from reimbursing the local 
population because he could not have known in advance the extent of the 
damage caused." Singer currently works as a businessman in Israel.
In subsequent years, Chile has tightened its grip on forest fires. The 
situation is different in Argentina, where Milei, immediately after 
taking office, implemented an 80% cut in environmental funding, to which 
we must add a further 26% reduction for the year just begun. To complete 
the picture, the Argentine government recently got rid of a pair of 
helicopters used to put out fires by dumping water, citing a lack of 
spare parts. For those curious, the helicopters were a generous gift to 
Zelensky. Ultimately, Milei's efforts to fight the recent fires amounted 
to nothing less than the artificial intelligence-assisted photo of him 
waving to (poorly paid) firefighters in front of a blaze.
Meanwhile, the local population openly accuses the Israelis of being the 
real culprits behind the fires. Where does all this Zionist interest in 
Patagonia come from? It dates back to the late 19th century, when the 
Zionist Congress was discussing suitable locations for their power and 
identified Palestine and Patagonia as their preferred options. Today we 
know how it turned out, but that doesn't change the fact that Patagonia 
has remained in the hearts of the Zionists. As early as the 1920s, 
Julius Popper, under the guise of prospecting for gold and posing as a 
naturalist, massacred indigenous people with the aim of creating an 
autonomous province. Indeed, the idea of ethnically replacing the 
Indians with white Europeans was well-regarded in Buenos Aires.
A preview of the policy practiced in subsequent years, and still 
practiced today, by Popper's co-religionists toward the Palestinians.
Coming to the present day, it is a fact that Patagonia sees a constant 
flow of Israeli soldiers on leave who evidently have not completely 
abandoned their initial ideas, aided in recent years by an Argentine 
president who even announced his intention to convert to Judaism. It is 
therefore no surprise to discover that the aforementioned governor 
Torres, newly elected and even before taking up office in Chubut, had 
flown to Israel with the Argentine minister of security. What could 
possibly be the reason for a provincial governor's visit?
It's enough to learn about a law recently enacted by Milei, according to 
which, from now on, fire-ravaged lands can be sold to foreigners 
(previously prohibited); we can imagine the prices.
Two main players are involved here: on one side, the US with its 
corporations as a favor in exchange for the recent financial aid 
received by Milei; on the other, Israel, which is already very active. 
There are numerous examples of land purchased by Israelis, and perhaps 
the most interesting case is that of the Mekorot company, expert in 
stealing water from Palestinians for decades, which, thanks to 
privatization, is expected to take over water management in Patagonia: 
water control is increasingly a strategic issue. All this while people 
are shouting from the rooftops that it's all the fault of the Mapuche 
who want to destroy their own land.

Antonio Politi

https://www.ucadi.org/2026/01/31/patagonia-la-terra-promessa/
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