Behind El Impenetrable National Park—a protected area spared from deforestation and praised worldwide—lies the Argentine government’s biggest scam. The project, which could lead to the reintroduction of the jaguar—the largest feline in the Americas and an endangered species—was created through front men, corruption, and political assassinations.
Luis Raúl Menocchio, one of Argentina’s most notorious serial killers, murdered Manuel Roseo—owner of the La Fidelidad estate and a possible front man for the Vatican—in 2011 to steal his land. With an estimated value of $500 million, La Fidelidad was sold in 2014 to one of the world’s richest men: Douglas Tompkins. The American philanthropist, founder of the clothing brand The North Face, paid less than $6 million to acquire the estate, where he built—through his Rewilding Foundation—the nature reserve. And the origin of the land was concealed.
Ten years later, the Argentine government faces the conclusion of an unprecedented trial. It refuses to compensate Manuel Roseo’s two unrecognized children, the rightful heirs to the land. It must justify why the land was purchased at a paltry price and, at the same time, account for the involvement of the former governor of Chaco province, Jorge Capitanich, in the murder of Manuel Roseo.
El Impenetrable National Park, one of the most important protected areas in Latin America, is stained with blood.
