Land owned by Argibay and Cura (image courtesy of MOCASE)
Peasant farmers’ organisation MOCASE (Farmers’ Movement of Santiago del Estero) has made public a video showing a local landowner threat the members of the organisation as he shoots his gun in the air.
According to the organisation, Argentino Américo Argibay owns 40,000 hectares in the province of Santiago del Estero, where he carries out cattle ranching and logging activities. His business partner, Jorge Cura, owns another 150,000 hectares. Local farmers have reported both businessmen to the authorities repeatedly, accusing them of stealing their land for illegal logging, forcibly evicting over 100 families, and having their workers in “inhumane” conditions.
On Friday 12th September, as local authorities visited Argibay to notify him of the charges of illegal logging brought against him by MOCASE, the businessman, in front of a camera, warned that “we’re going to end this, we’re armed.”
As he accuses MOCASE members of stealing his land and animals, Argibay draws a gun and shoots in the air, saying “I’m going to mess them up, with this [gun] I’m going to kill them. I’m going to blow their brains out.”
Talking to FM La Tribu yesterday, MOCASE member Deo Carrizo described Argibay as a “feudal businessman” who “has been taking over the land of various peasant families for a long time” and stated that, during the weekend, the businessman was seen removing the logs that were going to be confiscated.
The incident comes two months before the beginning of the trial for the murder of Cristian Ferreyra, a 23-year old MOCASE member who was shot dead as he resisted an eviction in 2011. A soy producer, Jorge Ciccioli, and his alleged hitman, Francisco Juárez, are accused of killing Ferreyra.
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