ARGENTINE POLICE ATTACK MALON DE LA PAZ INDIGENOUS MARCHERS
In 1945, indigenous leaders of Puna requested the government to restore lands to Aboriginal communities as required by law. On January 17, 1946, President Edelmiro Farrel issued the Expropriation Decree, but his actions were blocked. Retired Lieutenant Engineer Mario Augusto Bertonasco, who worked with the Mapuches on their territorial claims, organized “El Malón de la Paz”—a march to Buenos Aires to demand social justice. The Malon started May 15, 1946, at Abra Pampa in Jujuy, and entered the Federal Capital on August 3, 1946. They were received by the Director of “Aboriginal Protection” and housed in the “Hotel de Immigrants.” However, on August 27, prefectural forces demanded the Indians to get on a train and leave the capital. When they resisted, the Federal Police used tear gas to force them onto the train. No lands were restored. On August 7, 2006, 60 years after the first Malón, the Second Malón de la Paz marched from Jujuy to press the very same demands.
Source: Luis Maria, “The Kolla People Standing,” Indigenous People Law. Retrieved, 6/17/2020, http://www.indigenas.bioetica.org/nota14.htm Photo: Author unkown, 8/3/1946. Marchers enter Buenos Aires. Public Domain.
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