The governor of Buenos Aires, Axel Kicillof, affirmed that arguing with the Minister of National Security, Aníbal Fernández, “is not worth it” after the crossing due to the dispatch of gendarmes, but complained because “none” had yet arrived. .
“No, there is not much to explain. The first thing I want to say is that it is not necessary to explain why all this that I am going to say is public. First, I am not going to argue with Minister Aníbal Fernández, I think it is not worth it. Point two, we have been requesting the dispatch of gendarmes, do you remember when there was another minister who had been appointed by the President before Aníbal, well, and it was public, we always required, we requested, I would almost say emphatically, the dispatch of six thousand gendarmes to the Province” Kicillof said.
In addition, in statements to the press, he pointed out that “there were talks, there were many conversations, even with the President for sending gendarmes, they still have not sent any of those six thousand. We continue to go around the issue, 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, Sergio Berni vice-minister of National Security”.
“We believe that it is important, but here I want to make a clarification. If the gendarmes have to do with drug trafficking issues, the truth is that the Nation has the attribution related to drug trafficking, it does not have to coordinate with us these operations related to drug trafficking or to persecute the drug trafficking, send the gendarmes, act, because it is a responsibility of the national government by law. The provinces have drug dealing issues, not drug trafficking, if there are gendarmes for drug trafficking issues, that they deploy them, and that they do the corresponding tasks, with justice federal, because it is not a provincial justice issue either. It is not a provincial issue,” the governor clarified.
As reported by EL DIA, the Nation plans to send 300 gendarmes to La Plata, the authorities are engaged in finding a physical location for the operational base, while some of the areas where the uniformed officers would be deployed would be El Mercadito, La Favela, Melchor Romero, El Mondongo and the Los Hornos Megatoma, among others (see: https://www.eldia.com/nota/2023-3-21-9-38-0-desembarcaran-300-gendarmes-en-la-plata-y-le-buscan-lugar-a-la-base-haran-un-mapa-del-calor-con-las-zonas-mas-calientes-politica-y-economia).
“Now, if they are issues of citizen security, if the idea is that there is a deployment of gendarmes, for a matter of citizen security, obviously it must be coordinated with the Buenos Aires Ministry of Security, because if they call 911, which is provincial, how do you notify the Gendarmerie? What will there be? A Gendarme on a corner and that’s where we were going to find out? If we had another provincial or municipal operation there, it doesn’t make sense. We are asking for a deployment, coordination and the truth that We are not for the controversy, for the results,” he said.
After the meeting with the Minister of Security for the request for information from the Province, Kicillof explained: “What I required is that you tell me when, where and how the gendarmes are going to be deployed, if they are for citizen security they have to reasonably coordinate them with the Ministry of Security of the Province. I never wanted to get involved in any controversy, it seems useless to me. What I want is for there to be results, for three years and a bit we have been bidding for this and we never achieved it “.
“Yes (we sent a letter), also for what purpose, because I find out the truth from the newspapers that on such a day there were going to be so many bases with so many gendarmes. It does not mean that there were no conversations, simply that they do indeed have a plan, a design, even if it is not for drug trafficking issues, which I repeat are federal and they do not have to do any coordination or consultation, and welcome if they are in any operation of Federal Justice, with federal forces, for drug trafficking in our territory. But if they are for citizen security, we undoubtedly have to coordinate it with the provincial forces,” he added.
