Facundo Jones Huala, the leader of the Mapuche Ancestral Resistance (RAM), was arrested late Sunday in the Patagonian town of El Bolsón by Argentine Federal Police. The arrest followed an order issued by the Bariloche Federal Prosecutor’s Office, which charged Jones Huala with public intimidation, incitement to collective violence, advocacy of crime, and criminal association.
The charges stem from comments he made during a recent presentation in Trevelin, Chubut, promoting his book Entre Rejas, antipoesía incendiaria (Behind Bars, Arsonist Antipoetry). During the event, Jones Huala reportedly endorsed sabotage and arson against what he described as symbols of the capitalist system.
“I vindicate the sabotage and incendiary attacks on the infrastructure of the capitalist system, of the transnationals, of the landowners,” he said, according to local media reports. “But we have never attacked our environment or the people. They say that we set fire to the forests where our people live. All lies. We have never done it and never would do it.”
Argentina’s Security Minister Patricia Bullrich welcomed the arrest, referring to RAM as a “violent and terrorist organization.” She stated that the government is determined to prevent impunity for those responsible for inciting violence.
“With us, there is no impunity,” Bullrich said. “The Argentines of the south deserve to live in peace, and this time they will not let him go.”
Jones Huala was expelled from Chile in August 2024 after serving a sentence related to a 2013 arson attack. He has long been linked to RAM’s activities, which include attacks on buildings and vehicles in Argentina’s southern regions. While he has criticized some of the group’s land occupation strategies, authorities allege he remains a key figure in its operations.
