Iguazu National Park will be closed to visitors on September 27 and from October 30 to November 2, 2023.
The National Parks Administration of Argentina (Administración de Parques Nacionales; APN) will be closing on these dates to all visitors to bring light to a trial in which four of its park agents are being prosecuted for manslaughter, alleged breach of authorship and violation of duties of a public official after a tree (on January 1, 2016) on the private property known as Lolén, in the jurisdiction of the Lanín National Park, fell, causing four fatalities.
Argentina’s attorney general is saying the National Parks personnel should have been aware the tree could fall and, thus, put visitors at risk. The APN, however, is claiming that a fallen tree is, essentially, a random natural phenomena.
“In this context, we strongly declare that National Parks are great areas; there are inherit risks in your visit. APN staff is not responsible for natural phenomena,” the administration said in a statement. It adds that such instances of a fallen tree, snake bite, puma attack or the transmission of a zoonotic disease are all possible within a National Park—and that “it is not admissible, it is not a fact of justice, to hold APN personnel responsible for [these] multiple eventualities.”
To that end, National Parks—including Iguazu—will be closed on September 27, International Tourism Day, and from October 30 through November 2, the dates of the trial. “It is our intention to make visible the difficult judicial situation and take a stand against the consequences that could be caused by an unfavorable ruling towards security agents,” APN said.
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