11/03/2020 11:56
Clarín.com
Society
Updated 11/03/2020 11:56
Last Friday, at a protest by municipal workers in the city of Córdoba, an image was experienced that became well known in Argentina.
One person used a mortar and fired at the police, just as left-wing militant Sebastián Romero had done in the Plaza Congreso in 2017.
This time,
version 2.0 of the "Fat Mortar"
was about an employee of the Green Spaces area, affiliated with Suoem, who set off the explosive on the streets of the Cordovan capital, in a confrontation with the security forces.
“Last Friday they arrested six people for different events that were not serious enough for some not to regain their freedom.
Others remain in jail for participating in attacks against police personnel.
Among those crimes that are more serious, whoever manipulated the mortar was arrested in the last hours, "
the prosecutor in the case, Raúl Garzón
, told
Cadena 3
.
The man, whose name has not yet been released, is charged with
"public intimidation aggravated by the use of explosives
.
"
Romero, at the time, had been accused of "public intimidation, harm, injury and resistance to authority."
"This implies a disorder. Not only against the acting police personnel, but also against the citizens who circulate. This person
is assuming a risk of causing damage to the health and life of people
. They are targeted explosives," explained the prosecutor. .
The image of Sebastián Romero, the "Fat Mortero", shooting at the police in the Plaza Congreso.
Photo Emmanuel Fernández
And he added that "there is also another person detained" and that this Tuesday "the raids will continue in municipal offices in search of explosive material."
"To give continuity to the investigation, the Chief of Police was asked to increase the search for the footage to identify those who exceed these situations," he concluded.
The union of employees of the Municipality of Córdoba (Suoem) was the one that led the massive march on Friday in the Cordovan capital, in
demand for salary improvements
.
There they cut streets in the vicinity of Plaza España and Patio Olmos and the protest turned very violent, with a confrontation between protesters and the police.
"There were people from the Suoem from the administrative areas demonstrating peacefully. Then people from the operational areas came and attacked the police personnel," said Commissioner Víctor Di Stéfano in radio statements.
"They broke the cobblestones and began to throw stones at the police personnel," he added.
In addition to the detainees that the prosecutor detailed, the balance of the confrontation was
six security officers injured
.
For its part, the Municipality of Córdoba condemned "once again the acts of violence that the city suffered, caused by a group of protesters, who arrogantly attacked and destroyed the heritage of the people of Cordoba, injured police officers and put the physical integrity of neighbors ".
The memory of the "Gordo Mortero" of 2017
In December 2017, Sebastián Romero, a left-wing activist from Rosario and former candidate for the PTSU, gained notoriety when he was photographed
firing a pyrotechnic mortar tied to a stick with adhesive tape
, amid the protests in Plaza Congreso against the pension reform that promoted the government of Mauricio Macri.
Sebastián Romero, a leftist militant and former candidate for deputy for the PTSU.
Romero was accused of "public intimidation, harm, injury and resistance to authority" and fled.
In that condition it was for two years until it was finally delivered in Uruguay.
Then he was extradited to Argentina, where today he has the benefit of house arrest.
The left-wing militant became the image of violence against 88 members of the metropolitan police who were injured
on December 18, 2017 in
front of Congress when a bill by Mauricio Macri was debated to adjust pensions for inflation.
During the demonstration called by Kirchnerism and leftist forces, 14 tons of stones were thrown at the police, the journalist from channel 13 Julio Bazán was brutally attacked by protesters and the Dos Congresos square was destroyed.
The total of the injured reached more than 160 people, in an unprecedented event in recent years.
JPE
Look also
"El gordo del mortar", an image of the violence of the December 2017 demonstration in Congress
The fugitive militant who fired a mortar reappeared: he called for "a national strike" in Chile to "bring down Piñera"