In the midst of the growth of the controversy between the Nation and the Province, La Plata was confirmed as one of the operational bases for the gendarmes assigned by the government of Alberto Fernández. The place of settlement of these forces -which is still being analyzed- will be built with modules similar to containers, with the capacity to house some 150 troops per shift. With what, taking into account the rotations, there would be no less than 300 federal agents assigned to reinforce security in the City, as this newspaper was able to learn.
In this context, the controversy and the debate about the function that these forces will fulfill, which, according to official sources, will work with the modality of “mobile units” began. While it will have the support of the Prefecture (currently stationed on the coasts of Berisso and Ensenada), the Federal Police and the Airport Security Police. In addition, it was reported that the tasks will be coordinated in meetings with the Buenos Aires Police and the Municipality.
Insecurity map
It was explained that the so-called “heat map” will emerge from these meetings, where the hottest areas in terms of crime will be defined. The “warm” ones, painted red, will be those in which there is a high crime rate, as opposed to the “colder” ones, identified with light blue tones.
“The gendarmes are going to act together with the police forces in the so-called red zones”, which, according to the sources consulted, in La Plata would be those of El Mercadito, La Favela, Melchor Romero, El Mondongo and the area that includes the Los Hornos megatome, among others. They warned that the gendarmes will be armed to “fight” the drug traffickers in the neighborhoods where the scourge is more deeply rooted.
In addition, the installation of checkpoints and vehicle controls is planned, which will change places. “The idea is to change the concept. Do not leave fixed checkpoints because otherwise the criminals know where you are and avoid you. That’s why we call them mobile units, ”he pointed out.
According to what was known, the resolution creating the command made up of the four federal forces would be signed this week to put it into operation next month. Something that will not happen until the operational base is built for which a site is still being sought and for which it is only known that it will be “in a strategic place in La Plata”.
Governor’s Reply
While the dispatch of gendarmes also to suburban districts (still without precision on the total number) added more controversy. It is that the governor, Axel Kicillof, yesterday redoubled his claims to the national government to coordinate the operation that, according to what he admitted, he found out about in the newspapers. He even warned that since Alberto Fernández came to power, more than three years ago, “we require the dispatch of six thousand gendarmes. There was talk, there were conversations, many even with the President for sending gendarmes and they still have not sent any of those six thousand, ”he said in a tone of complaint.
The Governor’s words were amplified during a radio interview and came after the letter he sent last week to the National Security Minister, Aníbal Fernández, who maintains the broken dialogue with his provincial counterpart, Sergio Berni. In the letter, the Buenos Aires president asked for explanations about the troops that, according to the little that has transpired so far, will disembark in hot areas of the suburbs: La Matanza, Pilar, Tigre, Avellaneda and also in La Plata, where they They will set up operational bases. The idea is that from there they move to different parts of Greater Buenos Aires.
But until yesterday both in the municipalities of the Conurbano and in the City and even in the Province, mystery and lack of information reigned. This was made known by Kicillof himself, who stated that he did not know what functions the troops will fulfill: “If the gendarmes have to do with drug trafficking issues, the truth is that the Nation has the power related to drug trafficking, it does not have to coordinate with us these related operations to drug trafficking or to persecute drug traffickers; send the gendarmes and act, because it is a responsibility of the national government by law”, but that “if the idea is that there is a deployment of gendarmes for issues of citizen security, obviously it must be coordinated with the Ministry of Security of the province of Buenos Aires Aires, because if they call 911, which is provincial, how do they notify the Gendarmerie? what will there be? A Gendarme in a corner and that’s where we’re going to find out?
Beyond these questions, Kicillof said “not” to be for the controversy, but “for the results” and added: “We are asking for deployment and coordination. What I required of him (Aníbal Fernández) is that he tell me when, where and how the gendarmes are going to be deployed”.
Kicillof clarified that he did not want to “get involved” in any controversy that, he said, seems “useless” to him, but he did not hide his discomfort at the lack of results. Something for which, according to him, he assured, “three and a half years ago (those that elapsed since the arrival of the Frente de Todos at the Casa Rosada) we are bidding and we never succeeded.”
And although he sought to tone down the public crossings with Minister Aníbal Fernández, he reiterated: “We have been requesting the dispatch of gendarmes since the previous minister (Sabina Frederic) was there; We always require the sending of 6,000 gendarmes to the Province. There were many conversations, even with the President on this issue, they still have not sent any and we continue to go around with this issue, ”questioned Kicillof.
Far from being just a management issue about the fight against insecurity and drug traffickers, the harshness also fueled the internal politics that have shaken the ruling coalition for a long time.
In this sense, the Governor took the opportunity to contrast the current national management with that of Cristina Kirchner and, incidentally, support the questioned Berni: “We always request gendarmes and we continue to do so, especially in view of that Sentinel Operation, with six thousand gendarmes at the time that Cristina was president and Sergio Berni vice-minister of Security of the Nation”, recalled the provincial president.
Kicillof’s anger also pointed to the way in which the national operation was reported: “I find out from the newspapers,” he revealed. It does not mean that there were no conversations, simply that if they do have a plan, a design for drug trafficking issues does not require coordination because they are federal issues. But if it is for citizen security, undoubtedly, we have to coordinate it with the provincial forces, ”he insisted.
in the municipalities involved
As in the Province, uncertainty was deep in the municipalities where the gendarmes will be based. As in La Plata, from where they warned that “there is nothing yet. Zero confirmation”, after the mayor Julio Garro, through Twitter, highlighted as a “good measure” the sending of federal forces to deal with the scourge of insecurity. But he asked that political disputes be put aside and that the mayors be summoned “to a dialogue and work table, to articulate efforts and fight the advance of crime and drug trafficking in the Province.”
The concern was shared by the opposition mayors Diego Valenzuela (Tres de Febrero) and Néstor Grindetti (Lanús). “It is a necessary measure in the context of insecurity that we are experiencing. But we think it is essential that the Nation and the Province be well coordinated and that the municipalities be part of that conversation”, Valenzuela raised by case.
