Humahuaca mayor finally quits

Caretaker to call election within a month

Kirchnerite town councillor Candelaria Cari took office yesterday as caretaker mayor of the town of Humahuaca, Jujuy province, after Roberto Lamas was removed from his post late on Tuesday night following violent clashes in the area over land grabbing. Cari announced she will call for elections within a month.

Lamas decided to tender his resignation shortly after a man died last week during a violent fight between Humahuaca local residents and members of the “Tití Guerra” social organization, who attempted to grab a piece of land near Route 9 that was occupied by a local family.

The Kirchnerite mayor then backpedalled and withdrew his resignation, alleging he had initially quit “under duress and pressure.” He anticipated yesterday, after the local council accepted the resignation on Tuesday night he presented originally, that he will run for mayor again in order to get back his job and hit out at provincial Government Minister Oscar Incausti for the violent clashes that prompted his departure.

Lamas described himself as a “scapegoat” and said that “the true murderers will walk free because they are achieving their goal, which is blaming the mayor.”

According to Cari, the situation in Humahuaca is “calm” and “has gone back to normal.” However she said that “there’s a mood among residents that something could happen at any time.”

Humahuaca saw protests and demonstrations last week after Luis Darío Condorí, 29, was killed during the incidents. Three people have been indicted in connection with the killing. One of the accused is Marcos Guerra, the head of the “Tití Guerra” organization and once a close ally of Milagro Sala, head of the Túpac Amaru organization, which supports the national government.

Guerra, along with Miguel Ángel Guerra, Marcos’ brother, and Moisés Lavallén, the other two suspects, refused to testify yesterday before prosecutor Gustavo Araya.

Jujuy’s Lieutenant Governor Guillermo Jenefes publicly asked Peronist and non-Peronist leaders yesterday “not to take political advantage” of the Humahuaca crisis. Jenefes also stated that Lamas quit “under pressure.”

Lawmakers get involved

Jujuy Senator Liliana Fellner (Victory Front) and her Radical colleague Senator Gerardo Morales controversially clashed yesterday over the responsibility of Sala in the violence in Humahuaca.

Morales argued that the cause of the fight was a “real estate business” and not “the occupation of land by poor people,” as it had been reported.

The Radical senator said there was a plan “to divide the land into lots” and there was a list of “successful tenders” which included “businessmen from Humahuaca, an important impresario from Maimará and also political leaders.” According to Morales, Marcos Guerra charged “10,000 pesos for occupying the premises.”

Fellner rejected the accusations arguing that Morales “only told one side of the story” and said she was “concerned and sorry for what happened.” The Kirchnerite lawmakers hit out at Morales saying that “the UCR had no problems with Sala when she was a member of the Radical party in 1996.”

Deputy Miguel Giubergia issued a formal request to the Jujuy provincial government to explain if the “Tití Guerra” organization received state funds.

Herald with DyN