Squatter dispute on ex-minister’s family land in Entre Ríos ends
Stand-off in Santa Elena ends as social leader Juan Grabois tells his followers to vacate seized land.
At least a dozen provinces around Argentina have squatter issues at present, but attention over the past two weeks has fallen especially on Entre Ríos Province.
The reason? The stellar nature of the figures heading the two sides of the tense land dispute there in the Santa Elena area – former Agriculture minister Luis Miguel Etchevehere, whose family owns the invaded property, versus militant social leader Juan Grabios championing the squatters in alliance with Etchevehere’s sister Dolores.
Hundreds of local farmers, reinforced by others from neighbouring provinces (especially Buenos Aires and Santa Fe, with Córdoba’s agricultural sector joining them in declaring a “state of alert”) have demonstrated on Etchevehere’s behalf over the past two weeks against the occupation, which first started on October 14.
The story continued to seize attention this week. On Monday, Grabois dubbed his family a “mafia clan” who had “kidnapped” the sister. However, the day after a judge ordered that the squatters be cleared off the land, the outspoken social leader told his 40 followers in Santa Elena to disperse peacefully from fields owned by the family of the former agriculture minister after the Church disowned illegal land seizures.
Nationwide both the centreright opposition and farming lobbies turned the case issue into a test case for property rights, blasting the Frente de Todos national government for its lack of any decisive intervention, with a basically ambiguous stance. Angry farmers also threatened to cut roads across the country in protest, evoking memories of past conflicts.
Grabois insisted throughout the dispute that the squatters have a perfectly legal right to the land as part of Dolores Etchevehere’s family inheritance, of which she voluntarily ceded 40 percent in advance to the homeless.
The family countered that the ex-minister’s only female sibling no longer belongs to the board of directors administering their properties, having signed a document relinquishing her shares (under duress, she claimed).