The meeting to coordinate security efforts between the Nation and the Province of Buenos Aires had an explosion between Minister Sabina Frederic and her counterpart from Buenos Aires, Sergio Berni, something that has already become routine, but ended in an agreement to reinforce the operatives.
The tension –that comes from far
– It was increasing as Berni demanded a quantity of troops and coverage of objectives that the Nation maintains that it is impossible to carry out. But it was the hostile and almost uncontrolled tone that caused the general discomfort, to the point that Frederic asked him “Do you think that because I am a woman you can intimidate me?” In the end, Governor Axel Kicillof mediated, everyone calmed down, and a joint plan was finalized: the crime dropped a lot in the entire first stage of the quarantine, from March to June, but the easing produced a resurgence – lower than July 2019 – and the operations were agreed to prevent further growth.
The meeting on Wednesday was held in the building known as Puente 12, near the Ezeiza airport, and Kicillof was present precisely because he knows of the rough relationship between Frederic and Berni, so he officiated as a kind of guarantor. In reality, the two teams, the one from the Nation and the one from the Province of Buenos Aires, work in good agreement, but -as everyone agrees- Berni is imperative, he loses his temper easily and, instead of working as a team, makes public criticism almost permanently.
At some point in the meeting the Buenosairean took off his chinstrap, raised his tone, and Frederic stood with the phrase about intimidation. All those present put on cold cloths and a plan was established for the number of federal forces and objectives that will cover those forces in the next month.. There was an official statement lowering his tone and Berni himself said publicly that nothing happened, that it was a boring meeting. An important fact is that there is a very high number of agents and officers of the security forces, national and Buenos Aires, infected with covid-19, which makes it difficult to have troops for all the hot spots. That is one of the reasons for the tugging.
The day before, on Tuesday, there was another meeting on the subject, this time with mayors from Greater Buenos Aires, especially from the southern area, the one most affected by security issues. In that meeting Berni had also raised the tone and there was a clash with Mario Secco and Martín Insaurralde, who insisted that the Buenos Aires province has almost 100,000 troops and does not cover the territory that they consider it should cover.. Also at that time there was a quick intervention by Kicillof to reassure the parties and the incorporation of troops and patrols was analyzed.
The mayors agree on the diagnosis: crime fell noticeably with quarantine, but it is necessary to patrol, occupy key points and do prevention because with the flexibilizing measures there will be many more people on the streets and increases in crime are expected, especially in robberies, entrails and what is known as motorcycle jets.
The reality is that the security forces have to face the operations for the coronavirus, not only in the income to the City of Buenos Aires, but in the control of those who transit in the municipalities of the suburbs. Added to this are issues related to crime. In the Buenosairean management the intensity of Berni falls well, although they do not endorse everything that he does and they know that he also plays his own political game. These days he broke into the case of the Quilmes retiree who killed a thief and He argued that it was self-defense
. Hours later, a video appeared showing that the criminal was on the floor and Jorge Ríos shot him two or three times, in a kind of execution. According to the witness who witnessed the events, “the man on the floor raised his hand asking for help and Ríos shot him.” The prosecutor described the fact as simple, aggravated homicide.
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