Days ago, the verdict of the Supreme Court of justice of the Nation in the case that weighed on the teacher and leader of ATECH regional southwest Es burst Estela Juárez was announced for being part of a protest for salary improvements in 2019. The guilt was ratified and the conviction was confirmed. A cause similar to the condemnation of the six Chubutazo neighbors for defending the water.
The times of Arcioni y Torres They seem not to differ, he inherited the repressive manual that dictates the criminalization of the protest. In both governments, not casually the Minister of Security is the same: Patricia Bullrich; the one that outlined the strokes of that manual, and which was applied in the province with Mason before and with Iturrioz now.
during 2018-2019 the province went through an economic crisis, the product of the successive deliveries and looting policies of the previous efforts, to which the Arcioni government gave continuity and consequently had no intention of resolving. He adjusted below giving rise to mass state demonstrations throughout Chubut. One of the worst policies was defined at that time, paying salaries “staggered”, the government swore that you could not face the payment in a timely manner.
But in a staggered way the light or rent is not paid. The teaching, by the hand of ATECH (Association of Chubut’s education workers, the main provincial teaching union) took to the streets, went to the Ministry of Education in Rawson, to the Government House, to the Legislature, was mobilized in the main cities of the province, and also in the small communes; It was a process that lasted almost all of 2018 and much of 2019.
Everything that happened during those protests in September 2019, the deaths of Jorgelina and María Cristina – Dochet from Comodoro Rivadavia with whom we share the streets of the city and several protests on trips organized to Rawson the capital of the province – was and is the responsibility of that adjuster government.
Criminalization of the protest in the Arcioni era
It was in that framework that Estela Juárezwho was the general secretary of the southwest regional ATECH, along with his classmates Salierona demonstrates in the city of Sarmiento. The facts for which they accuse it dates on September 24, 2019.
Estela is notified in 2021 and the trial was held on April 20, 2023 in the Federal Chamber of Comodoro Rivadavia. The process was carried out by Judge Eva Parcio and the Prosecutor’s Office of Bellver/Avila, although the trial was in charge of federal judge Marta Yáñez.
The defense was in charge of lawyer Silvia de los Santos, who demonstrated that the entire procedure was vitiated. Neither the police, nor the judicial system fulfilled their obligations. He showed that it was the State who failed to comply with his duties to protect the right to protest. He raised the unconstitutionality of article 194 of the Criminal Code that is always applied in the criminalization of protest in streets and routes. He also demonstrated that the facts cannot be framed in that article since the common good was not endangered, said the subordination of the Prosecutor’s Office to the complaints of the companies and requested the acquittal.
It was proven that all formal routes were exhausted, including those of the judicial system, without obtaining a response to the claim for the payment of backward wages, the restitution of the funds for the functioning of the social work, educational transport and school buildings. In other words, it was the government that violated rights and disturbed the “public security.” But it was also proven that public demonstrations forced the government to negotiate with workers.
In spite of that, the Prosecutor’s Office requested a sentence of three months in prison in suspense, in this case the minor for the crime of which they accuse Estela.
Judge Yañez issued the guilt of the conviction and based her decision on the need to sanction behaviors that obstruct essential public services such as transport.“By legitimate and imperative that the claim” salary of the teachers will result, “the rights of passers -by who enjoy the guarantee of circulating freely through the territory of the nation cannot be ignored. In particular, said Route 26 is used by the settlers who from small towns such as Village Beleiro, Governor Costa, Cabo Blanco Rio Sengue Labor, health, education, tourism, and as a necessary route to access the Enrique Mosconi General Airport and also for heavy load transports that enter and graduate to the Republic of Chile ”, The magistrate argued in the ruling.[1]
The magistrate ignores that by not giving answers the institutional ways to the claims, the workers have a legitimate right to the protest, to break the normality of those who deny us the rights for which we fight. Of course, this sentence was appealed and reached before the Supreme Court, who finally confirmed the conviction this year. They were the judges Ricardo Lorenzetti, Horacio Rosatti y Carlos Rosensque who were in charge.
Now Estela must set domicile for a year, fulfill the sentence, make the payment of costs and unfortunately this cause is left as a history.
Criminalization of the protest in the Torres era
The current government of the province is replicating judicial persecution. A few days after this definition of the Supreme Court was known, in Chubut six neighbors are being sentenced to defend water and territory in what was known as the “Chubutazo” days. It was in December 2021 when the entire province took to the streets against the approval of the bill that proposed the famous “mining zoning”, during those days a hunting of protesters started in the government’s desire for sitting fighters on the bench and warning the majorities.
In a quasi copy of the trial against Estela, this was also vitiated, without evidence, with irregularities, and thus was demonstrated during the hearings.
They were the same experts who declared who could not ensure the presence of Niguno of the accused in the place of the events. With judicial arguments, which even the judge himself recognizes as a loose cause of papers, gives the prosecution another hearing to “Ranked the procedural error he committed in the pertinent stage to request the penalties with aggravating.” That is, it gives you time to get more probative elements. A repudiable partiality by the judge if we take into account that previously at the audience of allegations she had ruled out this.[2]
In this case, the resolution was to condemn six of the eight accused neighbors and acquit two. One of the acquitted was Lautaro Martinezwho appeared lifeless the night before that audience. Absolute responsibility of the government.
Duplicate governments
Arcioni was responsible for paramentating public education and health, of deepening indebtedness and making the people pay the corruption festival of the political-economic caste of the province. All this without the minimum attempt to solve the crisis that they said we were going through.
Torres is not paying the salaries climbyou. But it denies or delays the state, as happened with the brigadistas throughout the high fire season, or excludes unions as happens with ATECH in the negotiations, all this making the wages be far behind inflation. While each debt quota is still paid.
The debt that Arcioni and Torres paid is the famous Bocade, who by April 2024 would have already been settled if it were not for the usure interests; In other words, a debt that Chubutenses are already paying duplicate and probably in triplicate when the quotas come to an end. An analysis of the provincial debt can be seen in this article: Chubut The debt at the service of who
Not only is the repressive manual. It is the same government plan at the service of corporations. That is why we are urgent to organize and go to the streets. That is where we conquer and guarantee rights, that is where we can throw the Milei, the Towers and the IMF.
Emilse saavedra
[1]https://www.infobae.com/judiciales/2025/04/27/la-corte-suprema-confirmo-la-condena-a-una-sindicalista-de-chubut-por-los-piquetes-durante-una-protesta-docente/
[2]https://periodismodeizquierda.com/criminalizacion-de-la-protesta-condenan-a-6-vecinos-en-la-causa-chubutazo/
