In an act of dazzling political myopia and alarming submission to foreign capital, the province of Río Negro, with the tacit consent of the national government, is finalizing the details for handing over a strategic sector of Patagonia to the interests of a Qatari magnate .

Far from promoting sovereign and sustainable local development, the administration of Alberto Weretilneck celebrates as a triumph the sale of 10,000 hectares in the pristine Baguales plateau, near Bariloche, to businessman Abdulhadi Mana A Sh Al-Hajri, a bureaucrat linked to the royal court of Qatar whose fortune comes from the management of state monopolies, not from innovation.

This business, disguised as an “investment” , constitutes a very serious precedent for the alienation of vital natural resources: pure meltwater, unique forests and the potential energy that emanates from them .

The project, which includes three micro hydroelectric plants and a lavish , “self-sufficient” luxury tourist complex, is the materialization of a neocolonial dream: to monopolize water sources with 30-year concessions and control territories of extremely high environmental value for the benefit of a foreign elite .

Meanwhile, the provincial government, in a display of intellectual mediocrity, merely flaunts its role as a simple seller of goods, as evidenced by its official bulletin, " Invest in Río Negro," where Weretilneck proudly lists pears and apples for export, deliberately omitting that what he is truly putting on the negotiating table is sovereignty over strategic common resources. This reductionist perspective, which equates the sale of alfalfa with the surrender of water basins, reveals an appalling lack of vision and a clear plan for the province—and the country .

This operation is not an isolated incident, but rather a symptom of a state policy promoted by Javier Milei's government, which views Patagonia not as a fragile ecosystem and a reservoir of life, but as an asset to be auctioned off to the highest global bidder. The urgent need to attract foreign currency at any cost sacrifices the future on the altar of a fictitious present .

The buyer's profile, an oil revenue manager, is emblematic: he does not come to create industry or technology, but to transplant an enclave model, control a scarce resource and exploit the image of a natural paradise for ultra-exclusive tourism.

The “joint work agenda” that the Governor of Río Negro boasts about is, in essence, the protocol of a capitulation. The debate is no longer about development, but about defending what little we have left: water, the landscape, and the right to decide what happens to them. Patagonia is not for sale, but its leaders are determined to give it away.