The provincial legislator Magdalena Odarda has presented a project to declare the absolute nullity of the real estate operations that allowed more than 14,000 hectares in the Rionegrina mountain range to fall under structures linked to the State of United Arab Emirates.
The questioned area is located at the headwaters of the Chubut River, a strategic region due to its environmental, water, and geopolitical value. The initiative requests that the State Prosecutor’s Office proceed judicially to recover the territories and nullify the administrative acts that enabled the transfer.
Context and Presidential Visit
The issue regained notoriety after the arrival in Bariloche on February 24 of the President of the United Arab Emirates and Emir of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in an exceptional security operation.
One of the helicopters from his entourage headed towards the Las Marías ranch, near the questioned lands, reinforcing suspicions about the direct link with properties in Patagonia.
Origin of the Operation
The existence of these maneuvers came to light during a trial for usurpation against the Mapuche woman Soledad Cayunao, who was eventually acquitted. In that process, it was revealed that the lands had been acquired through an operation of two million dollars financed by the government of the United Arab Emirates.
The seller was the energy entrepreneur Marcos Marcelo Mindlin, partner of the British magnate Joe Lewis, owner of another 12,000 hectares in the area. The operations were carried out through trusts and financial triangulations, which generated strong criticism for concealing foreign control.
Legislative Arguments
Odarda warned that the transfer implies a serious territorial impact and contradicts principles of the provincial Constitution. She pointed out that “the limits of Río Negro were reconfigured” and denounced silent processes of foreignization that concentrate large extensions in foreign hands.
The project links these operations with the modifications promoted in 2016 by decree 820/2016 of the government of Mauricio Macri, which relaxed controls of the National Law 26.737 on the Protection of Rural Lands, facilitating the purchase of strategic lands by foreigners.
Environmental and Geopolitical Value
The lands are located in Cerro Carreras, a sensitive area due to the presence of water headwaters and mountain ecosystems of great importance. Specialists have been warning for years about the advance of foreign capital over Patagonian territories linked to freshwater reserves, forests, lakes, and border areas.
The initiative revisits reports from the Investigative Commission on Rural Land Transfers of Río Negro, which detected irregularities, sales at derisory prices, and speculative maneuvers on public lands.
Requested Actions
The project instructs the State Prosecutor’s Office to:
- Recover the transferred hectares.
- Review the complete legality of the operations.
- Declare the nullity of the administrative acts that allowed foreign control.
Open Debate in Patagonia
For environmental sectors and territorial organizations, the case brings to the forefront the dispute over land, access to water, and the advance of foreign interests over strategic regions for Argentina’s environmental and geopolitical future.
The controversy over the 14,000 hectares in Río Negro reflects a structural conflict over the foreignization of lands in Patagonia. The legislative initiative seeks to halt operations that compromise water resources and key ecosystems, reopening a debate that combines territorial sovereignty, environmental protection, and institutional transparency.
