Two men were detained in Chubut during the investigation into the murder of Elías Garay, the young Mapuche who was shot with a firearm in a property in dispute in the Cuesta del Ternero area of Río Negro, while the national government seeks to set up one ” work table “to” prevent and resolve “situations of violence in Patagonia.
One of the arrests took place in the Chubut town of Esquel and the other in the afternoon in Comodoro Rivadavia, according to judicial sources and the Public Ministry of Río Negro.
The Rio Negro Public Prosecutor’s Office reported that “one of the men accused of the murder of Elías Garay and the serious injuries perpetrated against Gonzalo Cabrera was arrested in the town of Esquel on Sunday afternoon in the Cuesta del Ternero area.” .
“The arrest took place in an operation carried out by the Rionegrina Police Investigation Brigade, after the Public Prosecutor’s Office requested by means of an exhortation the different search procedures,” said the agency.
The same agency reported that the other man suspected of having committed the murder of Elías Garay and the injuries to Cabrera was arrested in the town of Comodoro Rivadavia.
The man, who was wanted since Wednesday, will be transferred to the city of San Carlos de Bariloche, where in the next 48 hours the hearing to formulate charges will be held, which will be requested from the Judicial Office.
The measures, required by the Río Negro Public Prosecutor’s Office, were carried out in the area by the Río Negro Police with the collaboration of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the province of Chubut, and began as soon as the criminal complaint was received, the ministry reported. in his web page.
Likewise, he indicated that on Sunday night statements were taken that continued last Monday and, with the data collected, various raids were ordered, two of them in separate fields bordering the area that is in dispute.
Two other raids were made in private homes in Esquel, from where both men were originally from, reported the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Río Negro, which indicated that the man detained in Esquel will also be transferred to Bariloche for the corresponding indictment.
Regarding one of the detainees, officially identified as Martín Cruz Feilberg, the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Chubut reported that the procedures were carried out to corroborate the legality of the arrest and define his extradition to Río Negro.
As a corollary of these actions, it was reported that the criminal judge Mónica García “ruled by virtue of the fact that the authority of another jurisdiction requires the extradition of Feilberg and the reasons why such extradition is required are verified, related to an investigation file by homicide and serious injuries with a firearm. “
“In other words,” he added, “the legal requirements are met to proceed with the extradition of Feilberg and place him at the disposal of the competent criminal judge in said case. He also declared his detention legal since he was subject to an arrest warrant from Judge Juan Martín Arroyo” .
Meanwhile, the spokeswoman for the Presidency, Gabriela Cerruti, affirmed that the Government seeks to “prevent and resolve” situations of violence in Patagonia by setting up a “working table” between provincial and national authorities.
“Last night I spoke with the Minister (of Security) Aníbal Fernández about the issue,” said Cerruti during the usual conference held on Thursdays at the Government House before the arrests were known and said that “he is in talks with the governor (from Río Negro, Arabela Carreras) permanently “.
In that sense, he pointed out that “troops were being sent, work was carried out in the area of the province where there are conflicts” and stated that there is “a joint spirit of both the governor and the Government, and the Minister of (Security), in move towards a kind of work table, or of cooperation, to prevent these types of situations and also solve those that are developing “.
“The Gendarmerie was on Route 40 and in the different towns to prevent these conflicts over the long weekend and that action was efficient,” he said.
He also maintained that “we are talking about the loss of human life” and said that “this is the main pain of this government.”
For her part, the governor of Río Negro, Arabela Carreras, upon learning of the first arrest, stressed that the province’s police “have had an exemplary behavior” and stated that “the truth is that there has not been any situation that may be objectionable regarding of his actions “.
“We knew that we were under orders to track and arrest people apparently who could be the perpetrators of the terrible murder that occurred in Cuesta del Ternero days ago,” said the governor.
In this context, he told the local press that “today we had the good news that the Río Negro police with their investigation areas managed to find the whereabouts of some of these people and achieve their arrest.”
In turn, the Minister of Security and Justice from Rio Negro, Betiana Minor, confirmed in statements to Télam radio that within the framework of the investigation “the arrest warrant was granted for two people in the town of Esquel.”
The official pointed out that the security force “was able to find the whereabouts of one of those people, a car, and they are trying to find the whereabouts of the other person,” who was finally arrested hours later.
“The Río Negro Police and the Public Ministry acted quickly because there was a commitment from the province to put all the necessary resources to advance quickly,” said Minor.
In this context, he affirmed that “in the Ministry of Security and Justice we are very safe and very satisfied with the actions of the Río Negro Police.”
Garay, 29, was shot twice with firearms, while Gonzalo Cabrera, 26, was shot three times in the abdomen and underwent surgery at the Bolson hospital, where he remains hospitalized in serious condition.
The attack occurred in a place near El Bolsón when two armed men, dressed in civilian clothes, entered the Cuesta del Ternero property, where the Quemquemtrew community is based.
As soon as the fact was known, human rights organizations repudiated the “repression against the Mapuche people”, condemned the death of Elías Garay and demanded that those responsible for the murder of the young man be identified, which occurred on Sunday in a confusing episode in the vicinity of a original community near the city of Bariloche, in the province of Río Negro.
