LOS ALERCES NATIONAL PARK, Argentina (AP) — These days, the majestic, forested slopes of Argentine Patagonia look like a war zone.

Mushroom clouds of smoke rise as if they were the result of missile attacks. Great flames illuminate the night sky, turning the moon a mango-orange color and transforming the glorious sights that generations of writers and adventurers have imprinted on the global psyche into something ghostly.

Vast expanses of Los Alerces National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site home to 2,600-year-old trees, are now ablaze.

Forest fires, among the worst in decades, have hit a region of Patagonia. Affected by drought, they have devastated more than 45,000 hectares (more than 110,000 acres) of native forests in Argentina in the last month and a half, forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents and tourists. On Monday, the fire continued to spread.

The crisis, with most of Argentina's fire season still ahead, has reignited anger toward the country's radical libertarian president, Javier Milei, whose harsh austerity policy over the past two years has cut spending on programs and agencies that not only work to fight fires, but also to protect parks and prevent fires from starting and spreading.

“There is a political will from the current government in Argentina to dismantle firefighting institutions,” said Luis Schinelli, one of the 16 park rangers who cover the 259,000 hectares (642,000 acres) of Los Alerces National Park. “They are taking us beyond our limits.”

After coming into office with a campaign to rescue Argentina's economy from decades of huge debt, Milei cut spending on the National Fire Management Service by 80% in 2024 compared to the previous year, dismantling the agency responsible for deploying brigades, maintaining air tankers, purchasing additional equipment and tracking hazards.

The service faces another 71% reduction in funding this year, according to an analysis of the 2026 budget by the Environment and Natural Resources Foundation, or FARN, an Argentine environmental research and advocacy group.

The setback comes at a time when climate change is making extreme weather more frequent and severe, increasing the risk of wildfires.

“They say live climate change doesn't exist, but we experience it anyway,” said firefighter Hernán. Mondino, with his face stained with sweat and soot after an exhausting day fighting fires in Los Alerces National Park. “So far we see no sign that the government is concerned about our situation.”

The Security Ministry, which took over oversight of firefighting efforts after Milei demoted the Environment Ministry, did not respond to a request for comment.

Milei and Trump bring chainsaws to the state

Milei's deep spending cuts have stabilized Argentina's ailing economy and reduced annual inflation from 117% in 2024 to 31% last year, the lowest rate in eight years.

His battles against government overreach and a culture he perceives as too progressive have helped him get closer to US President Donald Trump, whose own war on bureaucracy Federal funding has had similar effects on scientific research and disaster response programs.

After Trump announced last year that the United States would leave the Paris climate agreement, Milei threatened to do the same. He boycotted the UN climate summit and referred to man-made climate change as a “socialist lie,” angering Argentines who understand that record heat and dryness, symptomatic of a warming planet, are fueling the fires in Patagonia.

“There is a lot of anger building up. People here are very uncomfortable with the politics of our country,” said Lucas Panak, 41, who climbed into a van with his friends last Thursday to fight fires engulfing the small town of Cholila after municipal fire brigades were sent elsewhere.

Disaster management amid austerity

When lightning started a small fire next to a lake on the northern fringes of Los Alerces in early December, firefighters struggled to respond, limited by the remote location and lack of planes to transport equipment and extinguish the hills.

The initial delay forced the resignation of the park's management and led residents to accuse them of negligence in a criminal complaint as flames leapt across the mountains. ancient mountains.

But some experts argue that the problem was not inaction after the fire started, but long before.

“Fire is not only attacked when it exists, but beforehand. All the prevention work that is very important to do throughout the year," said Andrés Nápoli, director of FARN. "And that today has been eliminated or taken away."

In addition to its cuts to the National Fire Management Service, the Milei government eliminated tens of millions of dollars from the National Parks Administration last year, leading to the dismissal or resignation of hundreds of park rangers, firefighters and administrative workers.

As more tourists come, Every year in Argentina's parks, forest rangers say that cuts and deregulation measures also make it difficult to monitor fire dangers, clear trails and educate visitors about park care. Last March, the government eliminated a requirement that risky tourist activities such as glacier hikes and rock climbing be supervised by licensed guides. control," said Alejo Fardjoume, a union representative of national parks workers. "We will probably see the impact of these decisions over time; It's not immediate, but it's cumulative.”

Firefighters struggle to keep up

A 2023 report from the National Parks Administration recommends a minimum deployment of 700 firefighters to cover the land under its jurisdiction. The agency now employs 391, having lost 10% of staff as a result of layoffs and resignations in the past two years under Milei.

Budget cuts to the National Fire Management Service have reduced training capacity and diminished available equipment, firefighters say, so many rely on second-hand clothing and donations.

Authorities in Los Alerces insisted this weekend that the fiscal shock program had no impact on relief efforts. firefighters to fight the ongoing fire.

“You can't put a lot of people in dangerous terrain, with cutting tools, in steep and difficult to access places,” said Ariel Rodríguez, the park's acting superintendent.

But national firefighters pushed to the limit of exhaustion said their ranks are constantly being reduced, if not by layoffs, then by resignations for poverty-level salaries that have not kept pace with inflation.

The average firefighter In the parks of Patagonia he earns 600 dollars a month. In provinces with lower costs of living, the monthly salary falls to just over $400. A growing number of firefighters say they have been forced to take on additional jobs as gardeners and farm laborers.

“From the outside it seems that everything is still working, but we put the cost on it, the body, we, we make the effort to make it work,” Mondino said. “If a partner is missing, we have to spend more weight, more work, more tasks, we sleep less.”

An inopportune dance

For a month while the forests burned, Milei barely said anything about the fires and continued as usual. Last week, as provincial governors pleaded with him to declare a state of emergency to free up federal funds, he danced on stage with his ex-girlfriend to Argentine rock ballads.

The split-screen image provided his critics with powerful political ammunition. Centrist legislator Maximiliano Ferraro criticized that the president was celebrating while “Patagonia burns.” Left-wing opposition parties staged protests across provinces.

On Thursday, Milei relented, declaring a state of emergency that unlocked $70,000 for volunteer firefighters and announcing “a historic fight against fire” on social media.

At the base camp where tired-eyed firefighters are recovering, some expressed hope this weekend that more help was on the way. Still, they couldn't help but think about what they had already lost.

“It hurts because it's not just a pretty landscape, we live here,” said Mariana Rivas, a volunteer who organizes impromptu massages and medical checkups for exhausted firefighters. “There is anger about what could have been avoided, and because every year it gets worse.”

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This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool.