Ramona Villalba: from washing clothes in a Gauchito Gil sanctuary to a millionaire

The first image they have in this place of Ramona Olga Villalba (56) is in the bathroom of the sanctuary. "She was in charge of cleaning the place and she also washed clothes for some vendors. She was very humble," recalls a historic vendor. Ramona, a native of Mercedes, Corrientes, hung it out in the open air and ironed it in the same bathroom. It was in the early '90s, when there were barely fifteen stalls on the property.

Years later she would arrive at her first sanctuary post. And over time she installed others, cared for by her daughters. Although the beginning of her great economic leap would be her assumption as president of the Centro Recreativo Devotos Cruz Gil, a (supposed) non-profit association. It was in 2013. Today part of its capital is vox populi: some of its neighbors and vendors speak of three hotels, four houses, fields, high-end trucks.

Until last week, her name was barely heard in the city of 40,000 inhabitants. But the double crime of Sergio Canteros (33) and her father Julio César (64) put her at the center of the scene at the country level, since the Gauchito has believers in all provinces.

Although he is not part of the group of eleven detainees who have the case, the Government of Corrientes decreed the intervention of the Center and appointed retired commissioner inspector Víctor Isnardo as inspector, for a term of 180 days. The Canteros family continues to demand Ramona's arrest. They accuse her of being the intellectual author of the double murder. In the last hours one of her daughters fell.

As Clarín learned, Villalba would be one of the four people from the Center's former Board of Directors who are being investigated by the Federal Prosecutor's Office in Paso de los Libres, Corrientes.

The case began in 2018 due to an anonymous call to 145 that stated that four vendors of the sanctuary were also engaged in the sale of drugs.

"It's all a lie," she defends herself, who warns that the case "is politicized."

In the intelligence tasks it was not possible to verify what was reported, but the people were identified and a conclusion was reached: Ramona's assets do not match her income. This led to an investigation for alleged money laundering, which is in the investigation stage.

To have a dimension of the money that moves the sanctuary, it is necessary to know some figures that Clarín consulted. Only during the first days of January, the property receives about 200 thousand faithful. It is the "high season".

"In those 10 days, a small stand can invoice 1.5 million pesos. A good long weekend, 300 thousand," says a stallholder with about 30 years in the place.

A stall can be sold for 5 million pesos. Ramona and her family, who had about fifteen in all, managed the best-located ones. So the collection would be much higher. But the main income they handled was donations from the faithful: a figure impossible to calculate.

Another business they had was that of candles: although all stallholders sell them, the commission is the only one that has permission to remove them. The promisers placed them, asked for their wishes and left. The commission came after them: they turned them off in half, removed them, loaded them on a wheelbarrow and they began a recycling process. Days later they received new candles, which they sold again. Although only in their positions. The package of 3 candles costs one hundred pesos. There is not a single visitor who does not buy.

"A Fiat Duna that appeared working as a remís was donated," details another historic stallholder.

"Another faithful donated a (Ford) Ranger truck. Maradona visited and left two shirts. Riquelme and his father, too. Chino Maidana, Locomotora Castro and Látigo Coggi left their signed gloves in the museum. Goycochea gave away his World Cup gloves '90. There was nothing left. Everything was sold: bottles of wine, quince dresses and wedding dresses, gold, jewels and whatever you can think of of value. Of course: the flag left by the Malvinas combatants is still there. that cannot be sold continues in the place", adds

The only ones who have access to donations are the members of the Board of Directors. The same with cash deposits in the piggy banks or by transfer from non-bank platforms.

"Some faithful call the Commission and ask what is needed and donate cash. Or they come to you and say 'I want to donate 500 dollars'. The problem is that the sanctuary does not have a decent bathroom, or lighting. It rains and we all flood. And the promesero does not even access a grill to have a barbecue. A nurse is not even hired: in summer it is very hot and big people come. The question is where the money is going to stop, "says another vendor, indignant.

the beginnings

Those with more memories remember that the first stalls (which were actually simple tables) were installed between the end of the '80s and the beginning of the '90s. There were between twelve and fifteen: some from Itatí (the same vendors of the Virgin of Itatí) and the rest from Mercedes. On their way back to Buenos Aires, the vendors that supplied the Itatí stalls would make a detour to stop by Mercedes and offer the first products with images of the Gauchito.

They worked on weekends and from Monday to Friday, from 8:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.: long-distance buses stopped at that time. And although they offered red ribbons and candles, they sold all kinds of products: chipá, coffee, soft drinks, yerba, music cassettes, batteries.

For years they served without water or electricity, until a deputy donated a generator set. With the crisis of 2001, the faithful multiplied. The same thing happened with the posts. The merchandise not only arrived from Buenos Aires. There were suppliers from Paraguay and from Uruguayana, Brazil.

"The city is maintained thanks to the state employees, the rice workers and everything that the Gauchito generates: over time, restaurants, pizzerias, rotisseries and hotels were installed in the center of the city, because the visitors began to stay to sleep" , details another stallholder. Between the city and the sanctuary there are eight kilometers of distance.

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Jobs grew in every way. First, in quantity: until before the pandemic there were 150 landlines. The number increased between December and March, on the 8th, Easter and long weekends. And they began to sell, in addition to all kinds of Gauchito products, toys, regional items, cutlery, handicrafts, santeria, electronics, clothing and polyrubro, among other things.

The Villalba-Astarloa clan

Although the legal status of the Center prohibited direct family members from the Board of Directors, the list that had Villalba as president included two of her daughters, a brother, a son-in-law, her husband, her concubine and even her trusted mechanic. .

"Many vendors wanted to join, but they gave you spin," says a Mercedino. And he adds: "They didn't announce elections. They directly communicated that they had been reelected. The vendors didn't say anything because they billed well."

There was a time when the sanctuary was "conurbanized". It was when two children of the Astarloa family arrived. They lived in Lomas de Zamora, and in Mercedes, where their parents lived, they formed a couple with two of Villalba's daughters.

They are Samuel (prisoner for attempted murder, and with at least one escape from the local police station) and Jonathan (arrested for double crime). Their father and Gisela, another of his daughters, were also arrested for the crimes.

"They came with the idea of ​​showing that 'here we are in charge'. It was for 2015," calculates another stallholder. "They began to demonstrate it by beating up a stallholder who was a former policeman. They hurt him, fired him and kept the stall. At the same time they did the same with another. They were gaining ground," he says.

The post adds: "We did the opposite of what the Gaucho preaches: we kept quiet. We were not supportive of each other, as colleagues. We should have gotten involved. But our culture as Corrientes is different." Jonathan Astarloa was treasurer of the Commission.

Another income they managed is rent. About thirty vendors had to pay the Commission (the rest do not pay because they are in the territory of National Roads). Initially, Ramona turned off the water to those who did not pay. But since they never received payment receipts, and for the Commission it was the least profitable business, over time they stopped demanding the rental value.

The next step for the Astarloa-Villalba family was to build stalls in front of the sanctuary, covering the main image of the Gaucho. The attitude was repudiated by the majority of the faithful. In total, between the two families, it is estimated that they had about fifteen stalls, all well located.

Some of their suppliers were prohibited from selling to other vendors. Hence they offered exclusive products. Their colleagues accuse them of shoplifting. They were the only ones who stayed at dawn. During the quarantine several were looted, and the owners lost between 4 or 5 million pesos in merchandise.

The beginning of the end was the plan to install new stalls in front of the sanctuary, on the other side of Route 123. They built them in front of the five properties owned by the Rodríguez-Canteros family.

the double crime

"Checho" Canteros, after arguing for several days with the Astarloas and the Villalbas, got tired and tore down one of the stalls. "Samuel, who is about to be released from prison, was going to attend to him," they warned him. He filed two complaints at the local police station. But on Friday the 6th he was murdered with 22 stab wounds.

The other fatal victim of the attack was his father, Julius Caesar, known as "Minto." He died 48 hours later. Sergio's brother-in-law and his wife's uncle were injured, but recovered in hospital.

With the arrival of the new comptroller, the vendors began to organize. They set rules: loud music, alcohol consumption while working and excessive prices were prohibited. Parking will be at will.

"The policy is to change the image of the Sanctuary, and value the promiser. We are ashamed to read his complaints on social networks," a vendor confides to Clarín. Looks like a big change is coming. The rumor is that the Government of Corrientes spoke with the authorities of San Juan, in order to build a shopping mall and a shopping center like the one with the sanctuary of the Deceased Correa.

EMJ

After the double crime, the Gauchito Gil property in Corrientes is intervened

The plot behind the double crime of the Gauchito Gil Mafia: who were "Checho" and "Minto"

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