They Ordered the Capture of the Mapuche Terrorist Leader Who Was Evicted From Los Alerces.

The Federal Oral Court of Comodoro Rivadavia declared Ernesto Cruz Cárdenas, leader of the Mapuche terrorist organization, in contempt and issued an arrest warrant against him after being evicted on January 9 from land belonging to National Parks in Los Alerces, Chubut.

Cárdenas is one of the defendants in the case along with his partner, María Belén Salinas, who claimed to be unaware of his whereabouts. The terrorist leader is also under scrutiny by the provincial authorities of Chubut, as he is being investigated for his possible connection to forest fires in the region.

Federal Police agents went to the address declared by Cárdenas to notify him about the debate and trial hearing for the usurpation of public lands, scheduled for April 3, 4, 9, and 10.

Salinas received the notification but insisted that she doesn't know where Cárdenas is, who has even stopped visiting the children they have together.

When ordering his capture, the Court noted that the activist also failed to fulfill his obligation to regularly appear at the 36th Squadron of the National Gendarmerie to verify his address.

Chamber Judge Enrique Baronetto declared Ernesto Cruz Cárdenas in contempt and ordered his capture. Both the governor of Chubut, Ignacio "Nacho" Torres, and the president of the National Parks Administration, Cristian Larsen, pointed to him as responsible for the fires that devastated thousands of hectares of forests in Patagonia.

Previously, in February 2023, the former Minister of Environment of the Nation, Juan Cabandié, had acknowledged receiving numerous complaints pointing to the same Mapuche terrorist as a possible culprit of the fire outbreaks.

Currently fugitive from justice, Cárdenas worked as a firefighter in National Parks. While still serving in the public sector, he self-proclaimed as a member of the Mapuche community Lof Paillako and initiated a claim for supposed "ancestral lands" on behalf of that group.

In 2020, the community forcibly took over National Parks facilities and remained there until early 2025, when the eviction was carried out. It was the national agency itself that initiated the administrative claim over the lands, which led to a judicial case under the direction of federal judge of Esquel, Guido Otranto.

On January 9, federal forces entered the premises to enforce the eviction order issued by the magistrate, but the occupants had already left the place.

Salinas took refuge in a family home within the same National Park, where she still resides. In contrast, Cárdenas went on the run, and his whereabouts remain unknown.