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Coronavirus in Argentina: they warn that the prohibition of family and social gatherings will be very difficult to control

2020-08-04T19:16:36.617Z


In the AMBA they affirm that the measure is "almost impossible" to apply and point to the responsibility of the neighbors. Strong disparity of criteria in the rest of the provinces.


Irene Hartmann

08/04/2020 - 16:04

  • Clarín.com
  • Society

"The decree is crazy: we cannot walk around kicking the doors of the houses." No one asked him for so much honesty, but the high source of a provincial government - which asked to reserve his name - did not hesitate to question President Alberto Fernández's decision to ban social and family gatherings to appease the spread of coronavirus. Two days after the announcement, which includes criminal sanctions for "rebels" who meet with friends or family, the provinces are "painted" in different colors according to the subjective translation they make of the national decree. That heterogeneity leave some questions: Why do some provinces say they will abide by a full the measure and with more control devices, while others will continue as before, resigned to " we do what we can "? At the same time, is it possible to control the population (without going over the line) or was it just an exaggerated declamation by the President?

Clarín spoke with security authorities from various jurisdictions. A few calls were enough to glimpse the typical contrasts of the national territory. From provinces confident in their power to " detect" breaches, such as the case of Mendoza, which announced an urban and virtual follow-up, looking for potential offenders on social networks, to the "rebel" of the moment, Corrientes, who resists returning from light quarantine .

So much so, that a senior source from that government wanted to clarify the issue in this way, but could not avoid getting entangled: “It is not that the decree is going to be disregarded. What the Governor (Gustavo Valdés) said is that the issue will be analyzed . We are still in phase 5 because the controls remain fairly tight and there is not much movement of people. The governor said that we are well. Our situation is not similar to that of Resistencia (Chaco) or AMBA. ”

The matter is critical and that is why several sources asked to speak off the record . This is the case of the province of Buenos Aires, where a spokesperson who chatted with this media admitted that  prohibiting meetings "is an impossible measure to comply with" , not to mention how difficult it is to prove someone's responsibility when contagions proliferate at a certain address. . Basically, "the crime that seeks to punish is practically incomprobable ", a phrase in line with another more hackneyed one that also said: "The worst measure is one that cannot be controlled."

A similar air is breathed in the city of Buenos Aires. Sources from the Ministry of Security confirmed that "always respond to complaints that may enter 911 or 147 about these situations. And also the staff who are on the street work carefully on the subject. Many clandestine parties in the City have already been brought to justice. As always, the responsibility of the neighbors is appealed to, so as not to destroy what has been achieved. ” That is, there are controls, but no new device will be added  after the decree.

Speaking of individual responsibility, it is better to have it, especially if one lives in Entre Ríos, where Governor Gustavo Bordet clarified that, although the province "will not return to a situation of isolation," prohibitions are added . " And he remarked: "We are going to guarantee compliance with the decree by working with the provincial, federal and municipal security forces of each city." In line with these sayings, the provincial state prosecutor, Julio Rodríguez Signes, warned this Tuesday that whoever violates the decree will be "liable to a custodial sentence ."

Family gatherings were targeted in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic and after they were banned by decree throughout the country.

In Santa Fe, it was announced that the provincial police will return to work with the municipalities, as occurred during the most restrictive quarantine. An 0800 line was set up to report breaches and social media monitoring will be added. Rosario - where meetings were already prohibited - will continue operations to break up clandestine parties, but now she plans to also focus on smaller "gatherings" .

Although the DNU seems clear, its emphatic letter does not finish covering the nuances of different provincial regulations already adopted by the population. For example, meetings that do not take place in the private sphere but in public: bars and squares, or simply on the sidewalk.

This is the case of Córdoba: they suspended family meetings on Sundays that were allowed for a maximum of ten people, but “ the bars are still open (following the sanitary protocol); there is a gray in the application of the national decree ”, they explained from the environment of the Governor Juan Schiaretti.

As for the control measures, they will continue as before: among others, an 0800 to denounce meetings or parties, and the application of a brand new fine law , launched by the governor himself and approved on July 8 by the provincial Legislature. As for the meetings on Sundays, they added: "They will be enabled again from August 16, if there are no new determinations of the Nation."

Misiones, another case with severe contradictions, completes a photo of the very uneven Argentine Northeast . On the one hand, Corrientes, in an apparent “black sheep” pose; on the other, the harshness of Entre Ríos; and in the jurisdiction governed by Oscar Herrera Ahuad, while ensuring that they adhere to the national measure, several activities authorized by protocol are maintained : that is, open gastronomic venues, internal tourism and sports practices: amateur football, cycling, hiking and running.

Such a varied scenario raises some questions. Does this DNU make sense or is it another typical " communication error " in the political sphere? Why the inclination for the threat of criminal sanction rather than an emphatic "recommendation" to the population?

An expert in forensic psychology, dedicated to the study of crime and delinquency, asked to keep his name reserved before defining the uncomfortable place in which, in his opinion, President Alberto Fernández was positioned in the context of the pandemic.

“The problem with the DNU is almost a matter of transfer , that is, of exchange of knowledge. It happens that the knowledge that people attributed to the President when the pandemic began is no longer the same as now. He had a respected position first: he was not arrogant, he was cautious, he had chosen a committee of experts, he was prudent. Now he is criticized: they say 'we have a government of doctors', and some feel that individual liberties are in check : they ended up registering in the criminal jurisdiction what they failed to control with individual responsibility. ”

Thus, “ the authority of that knowledge was delegitimized . Today people fear more about how to survive than the coronavirus itself, "said the expert, and concluded:" I think the decree will be very difficult to comply with at this time of quarantine. It will fall on deaf ears. The criminal threat is untimely. At first people were afraid and would have followed, even without sanctions. But now ... everyone is tired. "

Collaborated by: Lucas Aranda, Ernesto Azarkevich and Roxana Badaloni

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Source: clarin

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