Ignacio Ortelli
08/26/2020 - 17:30
- Clarín.com
- Politics
"Why do I say these things Giulianescas?" The security debate was advancing in the aftermath of the now classic presidential lunch on Tuesdays at the Quinta de Olivos, when Alberto Fernández smiled mischievously at the harsher tone of his speech about security that he dusted off a few days ago.
It was an exaggeration, since he had not uttered any sentence attributable to former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani ; mentor of "zero tolerance" theory against crime; and it hadn't even been tougher than the rest of the diners, but it marked the continuity of the repertoire with which he had landed hours before in Pilar, where he targeted "those who commit crimes" , whom he promised to "stop them so as not to let them make the lives of Argentines uneasy ".
That the head of state uses the tone of the right hand does not cease to surprise since Kirchnerism, the central column of the Frente de Todos that brought him to power, always yielded the security agenda to the opposition in turn . It is something that had not changed with the inauguration of Fernández. It was even exposed at the beginning of the pandemic, when the most radicalized sectors sponsored the massive release of prisoners and focused their questions on the hard model in the area that the administration of Mauricio Macri imposed under the command of the former minister.Patricia Bullrich .
Alberto Fernández, during an act in Pilar. There he tried to be receptive to the growing demand for insecurity.
Although during June, still in strict quarantine, the President had shown signs of drawing a different line, when he stated that "the fight against crime must be inflexible, but always within the law", the growing insecurity and, consequently, its reflection in social humor, leads him to focus on redoubling his efforts to contain the situation in the suburbs. "It is something that we are seeing in the polls and that he knows we must pay attention to," argued a close collaborator of Fernández.
Indeed, it was one of the claims that were heard during the # 17A march and, as Clarín said, 9 months after the change of Government, and in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the issue was once again at the top of the main concerns of the people , according to most institutions and serious pollsters. In some cases, it even exceeds concern about the situation of the economy.
If Alberto F. had any doubts, the shout of approval that the militants gave him, who waited for him this Monday in the vicinity of the Villa Rosa Station, during a segment of the speech, when he promised to reinforce security "so that no one who transits the street is afraid of being mugged or attacked " ; He finished convincing him that it is a subject that his own public demands of him. Especially in the first electoral section, where a good part of the electorate that refers to the leader of the Renewal Front Sergio Massa is housed .
But not only the content of what Alberto F. said generated that reaction: his tone was similar to that of the campaign. He promised to continue working "so that no one who walks on the street is afraid of being mugged or attacked. We are going to put all our efforts there because the street belongs to everyone and we definitely deserve to live it calmly," he harangued.
Survey at the AMBA of the National University of La Matanza. August 2020.
Although it went unnoticed because the media titles focused on his new allusion to the interdict he maintains with Macri for his advice on how to face the pandemic, it was the first step to position himself at the forefront of the fight against crime.
At that event, Fernández arrived with Massa, and three leaders who closely feel the people's demand for the growth of crime in recent weeks: the Buenos Aires governor, Axel Kicillof ; and the mayors Federico Achával (Pilar) and Diego Valenzuela (Tres de Febrero).
Precisely, the role of Massa and of the majority of the communal chiefs who speak often with Alberto F. was also key to this discursive rethinking. As Clarín was able to know, the Tigrense alerted to the issue in different private meetings that the President commanded in recent weeks, while the Peronist mayors who have the worst coexistence with Sergio Berni; they rescue that the Buenos Aires Minister of Security "realized before" the need to show media proactivity in the face of crime.
Alberto F. in Pilar, together with the local mayor Federico Achával.
"With all the differences I have with El Loco (as they say to Berni), he saw her come before. And my point is that if he, who is a judge and a party because he is in charge of Security, talks about the issue and It is going well, why can't the President or us do it? "reasoned a mayor of the PJ of the third section, who encourages the strategy not only as a way to contain claims, but also given the possibility of it being taken advantage of by the opposition in the next campaign heading for the legislative elections.
Some of that flew over after the event in Pilar. There, at one point, when they highlighted the effusive response of the public to the message that the President had given, Massa warned Kicillof that he was going to tell him something that perhaps "he would not" like. "In the suburbs, fighting against insecurity is the permanent claim. That's how I beat them in 2013, " the head of Deputies recalled before other leaders. Far from being dazed, the former Minister of Economy nodded in accomplice: "Don't even remind me, you screwed up our votes." The stage of harmony that exists between the domes of the Frente de Todos allows this type of dialogue without hurting feelings.
All in all, Alberto F.'s next step will be the launch of the plan to reinforce the Conurbano , which will be announced by the President next week. It will include the purchase of two thousand patrol cars, the refurbishment of 100 police stations, the construction of more prison modules, the installation of anti-panic cameras and buttons at "safe stops" of buses and stations; and funds for the Province to increase the staff of the Buenos Aires Police. Finally, a change in the strategy of the Ministry of National Security: with the latent tension between Minister Sabina Frederic and Berni, the Government will give in and plan to send more federal troops to Greater Buenos Aires, within the framework of "Operation Centinela 2 ".