The couple who have been together for fourteen years and have three children aged eleven, nine and three, handle the issue with conviction and serenity.
With pain and sadness
.
Without anguish or despair, at least at first glance.
They got fed up with
drug violence
, which has worsened like never before in recent days, and they say they are leaving Rosario.
Carolina (38) and Pablo (40), fantasy names of the couple who do not want to reveal their face or identity not only out of fear but also because of how they might react at their jobs, receive Clarín
in
their apartment on the pedestrian Córdoba, in the heart of downtown from Rosario.
"It's hard to say but
the decision has already been made. We are leaving and the destination will be Spain."
She is the one who takes the reins, he accompanies the decision.
She has Spanish citizenship, a brother in Europe and a "somewhat more detached" family;
He already imagines how much he will miss her parents, her siblings and her hometown.
"You always listen to other people's stories and you say 'wow, what a decision he made, what a good life he has', but
when you are the one who packs your bags, you frown, because a lot of situations come into play.
My family doesn't knows nothing and when they find out, they are going to drive me crazy," says Pablo, a senior technician in Public Relations, professor of Communication and administrator of a health center.
We are on the sixth floor with a window that looks out onto the pedestrian street, which shows a natural movement that seems to ignore the murders of drug trafficking.
The two oldest children are in their rooms and the youngest plays in the living room, where the interview takes place.
"We have been talking about leaving for a year. It started at the end of 2022.
In March 2023, with other bloody episodes that happened, we took it seriously
and began to move and decisively throw out resumes, both in other cities in Argentina and in Madrid and Valencia".
"What happened last week convinced us," say Pablo and Carolina.
Photo: Juan José García
The speaker is Carolina, a graduate in educational organization and management, a teacher in neurolinguistic intelligence and a primary school teacher.
"What started happening last week with the crime of the taxi driver and ended on Saturday night with
the cold-blooded murder of the beachgoer was the straw that broke the camel's back
. I told Pablo: 'Enough, we can't be here anymore.' "We're leaving, let's do it for our children. This situation can't be tolerated anymore and we don't see a possible solution. We are from Rosario,
we love our city, but we love our children more,"
he states with forcefulness and determination.
Mate and tutucas accompany the painful talk.
"It is exhausting to live in Rosario.
We have three children, do you know the logistics we have to put together every time we go out? It is unbearable
, and we live in a privileged area where every day they do minimal work. We were victims taking care of ourselves.. .. We don't go out after six, seven in the afternoon, unless the kids have some activity.
Rosario is a little cafe, bars, theaters, cinemas, exhibitions, football, friends... We don't do anything, nothing. And if we do "It's a drama
. I go out to eat at a friend's house and if I linger a little, my son won't fall asleep," Pablo slips, looking for some explanation.
"We don't realize it,
we are immersed in this hell, we adapt to this shit
," they confess.
"Living in fear is not life. We are young, we, Pablo and I, have many years ahead of us, and our children have a future that we cannot find here in Rosario.
What are we going to wait for? For a tragedy to happen, I don't care. I would forgive him...
Like never before, after what we saw with the bus driver and the beach guy, we are in God's grace," Carolina remarks with crushing bitterness.
Pablo shares what happened yesterday afternoon.
"I came back from work and I had several errands to do, all within two blocks around. And one of the errands was to go to an easy payment.
Can you believe I went up and down to my house four times? The drug traffickers threatened to shooting common people in the lines of the banks
and I saw long lines that reached the street. Every time I went, there were more people. I ended up going at the last minute, at a time when I was inside the store."
Due to their jobs in a health center and a school, Pablo and Carolina, who also offer "soft skills" courses, insist on not making themselves known.
"I presented a project in Spain, in a real estate pool in Madrid, and I am waiting for news.
I have my brother there, who is acting as an intermediary because he knows the people in charge of the firm. There we would offer these courses that we do on leadership, motivation, teamwork and assertive communication," describes the woman, who offers a cup of coffee.
What are we going to expect?
For a tragedy to happen, I wouldn't forgive myself.
ever," says the mother of three children. Photo: Juan José García
They say that their surroundings are resigned.
"Family and friends know that it is unlikely that anything will change. The Minister of Security says that Rosario is
full of police officers and today I did not meet a single one all day
," emphasizes the administrator of a health center.
"Those who had the opportunity to leave have already left," the teacher adds. "We have friends in Coronda, north of Santa Fe, but we are not tempted to go with three children, and we also have relatives in Río Tercero, a nice place, But little one... what are we doing there?" Pablo asks.
Carolina laughs so as not to cry, which conveys stoicism.
"I mentioned Río Tercero, we went in the summer, and my boys met their cousins of the same age...
Mine couldn't believe how they live.
It seemed like ten thousand kilometers separated us. The cousins there were very relaxed, leaving doors open, bikes on the sidewalk, wandering around at any time of the night... Of course, mine moved cautiously, they locked everything and looked at us, who tried to explain that yes, they should relax, that it was another city. Poor things...".
"To go pay taxes you have to do unbearable logistics. Is this life?" they ask.
Photo: Juan José García.
They return to the present and their immediate future
.
"Work is a priority because there are three children, we can't go
hipping
,
that's why all the guns are on Spain, which we know won't be easy, but it's there."
What happens if they reply that your proposal is accepted?
"I give up school and run to get the tickets.
We would see how we take the first steps: I would travel alone, or with Pablo to meet with employers, look for a house and school and we would come to look for the kids or we see how we would handle ourselves."
Pablo observes her with admiration and with a hint of fear.
"It's hard to hear, it's not a joke, my knees are shaking. Although it is an old topic, which should not surprise us, it
is not easy to unload your suitcases and send yourself to move
. As Rosario residents we have an unbreakable sense of belonging."
Pablo and Carolina are tenants.
They arrived at the downtown from a house in Alto Rosario, "a heavy, difficult place. It was difficult for us to leave that large space with a garden, on top of it it was a family house, we did not have to pay rent, but
we set up camp and we had to come to a smaller apartment
, about 400 thousand pesos, due to the issue of insecurity," she says.
The boys appear in the living room, the three of them are playing.
"They are absolutely homely, they don't know what it's like to go out at night.
Thinking about going to eat a hamburger at eight at night is like going to war."
"Thinking about going to eat a hamburger at eight at night with our children is like going to fight in war," say Pablo and Carolina. Photo: Juan José García
"A few weeks ago we were going to eat at a co-worker's house," Pablo reviews.
"She invited us because she thanked me for a job management that benefited her... When that day she told me the location of her house and I saw where it was, back in the Circunvalación area, I do
n't know what we invented with the topic of the boys and we didn't go "
I didn't want to offend her or make her feel bad, but they ended up coming home and we had a great time."
The children look fine, the two oldest, 11 and 9, know nothing about being uprooted.
"We set up a life so that at two in the afternoon the five of us are having lunch here at home
," she says.
"And then we organize to take turns and take them to chess, soccer, tae-kwondo, guitar. With exceptions, at six in the afternoon we are all inside. We move by car or walking, they do
n't know what it's like to travel by bus. "Out of fear I don't take them up
and the same thing happens with many of their classmates. They don't know what it means to have a bondi."
The last round of mate finds them in silence.
"Everything has been said," they say.
Regarding the security measures that are being taken, they express skepticism and disbelief:
"Rosario, as she is, has no cure."
Rosary beads. Special delivery
P.S.