The map of foreign ownership in Patagonia now includes a chapter of "real estate triangulation" that challenges national sovereignty. According to the Río Negro newspaper , legislator Magdalena Odarda (Vamos con Todos) introduced a bill to declare the deeds for 14,689 hectares in the Andean region detrimental to the public interest and to annul them. These hectares were acquired through a complex financial scheme using capital from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) .

The money trail and the "intermediary"

The investigation that underpins the project reconstructs a route that began in 2008, when then-Governor Miguel Saiz granted the land at ridiculously low prices—a mere 90 pesos per hectare—to individuals operationally linked to Joseph Lewis . After passing through the hands of businessman Marcelo Mindlin , the land ended up in the Amaike Trust , a legal structure identified as the vehicle for the Arab state's entry into Río Negro territory.

According to information published by the Río Negro newspaper:

The Amaike Trust: An Arab enclave in the mountain range

Odarda 's complaint alleges that companies like Manzil SA and the Amaike Trust are acting as "fronts" to circumvent the Land Law. Manzil SA , directly linked to the UAE government, also owns Golden Bay Airport, which was purchased from British tycoon Joe Lewis .

The trust's objective is the operation of a hunting lodge and luxury accommodation for a period of 30 years. However, the bill warns that these "illicit simulation" maneuvers were carried out on land containing freshwater, native forests, and protected glacial systems , and are also in conflict with local Indigenous communities.

Background and delivery context

This case is not isolated. It adds to the recent prosecution of former officials for investigating Lewis 's companies in Lago Escondido and the legislative progress in the Senate to allow governors to cede land to foreign states through cooperation agreements.

Odarda recalled a precedent for sovereign land recovery: in 2013, the Río Negro legislature returned more than 24,000 hectares of land in the Somuncura Plateau to the provincial patrimony. This land had been fraudulently sold at a "grossly low price." In that case, the court declared the transaction absolutely null and void, with no right to compensation for the private parties involved.

Territory as a currency

While the national government deregulates border control and the U.S. Southern Command assumes responsibility for security in the South Atlantic, foreign enclaves, directly financed by other states, are consolidating in the provinces. The proposed annulment of the Cerro Carreras land purchase seeks to halt what Odarda defines as a covert surrender of sovereignty disguised as private real estate deals. Once again, water resources and the territorial integrity of Patagonia are at the heart of a geopolitical dispute where the Río Negro provincial government has, until now, facilitated the handover.