Mariano Gaik Aldrovandi
02/21/2021 4:41 PM
Clarín.com
Police
Updated 02/21/2021 4:41 PM
The belt begins to unbuckle and security in the south of the City of Buenos Aires will change hands.
Starting in March, in Barracas and Puerto Madero the embroidery of the City Police uniforms will begin to be seen more and less the beige sand characteristic of the Prefecture.
The beginning of the end of the "South Belt Unit Operation" and the transfer of prevention in these neighborhoods occurs in the midst of the dispute between the Nation and the City for the withdrawal of resources for the Buenos Aires force and an escalation of violence in the Zavaleta and 21-24, which
in the last 14 months registered more homicides than in the previous four years
, according to official data.
It was in that area that on Thursday night four thieves killed the former retired NCO of the Federal Police, Alfredo Poggetti (66), during an entrance in front of his wife in Río Limay and California.
The attackers fled to the settlement and are still at large.
After the crime, the neighbors came out to report a large number of assaults in the neighborhood and, in fact, Poggetti, planned to move to the Coast due to insecurity.
The kick was on February 1 with a meeting between the Minister of Security of the Nation, Sabina Frederic, the Buenos Aires Deputy Head of Government, Diego Santilli, and the Secretary of Justice and Security of the City, Marcelo D'Alessandro, in the that the retirement of the prefects of Puerto Madero and Villa Zavaleta was set for March.
In a second stage, still undated, the City would absorb the deployment in 21-24, according to
Clarín
.
Sabina Frederic, Diego Santilli and Marcelo D'Alessandro met on February 1 to advance in the transfer of security in the south of Buenos Aires.
The Puerto Madero issue has already been resolved: there will be more than 250 Buenos Aires agents, with their own monitoring center and security cameras.
The issue of the two neighboring settlements is still under discussion.
In principle, the idea is that security there is shared, at least in a first stage, by federal forces and the City.
With hundreds of families living a few meters from the Riachuelo, villas 21-24 and Zavaleta have more than 40,000 inhabitants between the neighborhoods of Barracas and Nueva Pompeya.
The "South Belt Unit Operation" by which the Prefecture is in charge of security in some areas of La Boca, Barracas and Parque Patricios has been operating since July 4, 2011. It arrived almost alongside the "Sentinel Operation" which consisted of the landing of gendarmes in Bajo Flores, Villa Soldati and Villa Lugano, which are still there.
The two, which meant the landing of 2,500 federal agents in the south of Buenos Aires, were created under the management of former Minister Nilda Garré, at a time when the Federal Police was in charge of security throughout the City and the Metropolitan gave their first steps.
Villa 21-24.
Photo: Luciano Thieberger.
In 2017, the same year that the City Police was created, the Government of Mauricio Macri repealed the decree that gave rise to these operations and described them as “a rigid organizational mechanism, with a static and focused presence, without reaching the intended objectives ”.
Instead they convened a Planning and Control Center to "intensify the national police effort, and optimize the citizen security service in any part of the national territory where this is necessary."
In March, the Prefecture will stop providing security in Puerto Madero and the City Police will arrive in its place.
Photo Archive / Lucia Merle
The underlying objective of the administration of former Minister Patricia Bullrich was for the gendarmes and prefects to return to guard the borders, routes and rivers.
But the federal forces never finished leaving the south of the City.
The national government had advanced its intention to start the transfer just a year ago.
The arrival of the coronavirus and the mandatory quarantine that governed the country as of March suspended those plans.
At that time, the withdrawal of the Prefecture of Puerto Madero was going to take place after a serious and striking episode for the area: the crime of the British tourist Matthew Gibbard (50) at the door of the Hotel Faena during an attack by motorcycle jets, on 14 December 2019. That year, thefts under this modality multiplied by four.
The assault on the English tourist occurred on December 14, 2019 at the door of the Faena hotel, in Puerto Madero.
Homicides on the rise
Now the transfer comes after a series of homicides in villas 21-24 and Zavaleta, also unusual for the average of previous years.
There were 22 in the last 14 months, since December 2019, when between 2015 and 2019 there had been 23
, according to judicial sources.
In other words, in one year and two months there was practically the same amount as in four years.
When comparing 2019 against 2020, the growth is practically double: 10 to 19.
But insecurity and violence in the area are not the only variables at stake.
The political framework also adds complexity to the situation: the governments of Horacio Rodríguez Larreta and Alberto Fernández have a dispute over joint funds destined for the City Police.
In December, Congress passed into law the reduction of 1.2 co-participation points from the City of Buenos Aires for security, equivalent to 65 billion pesos.
The measure had been implemented first by decree in September, amid protests by the Buenos Aires Police demanding better wages and working conditions.
With this money, the increase granted by the Province to its agents was financed.
The law opened a dialogue table between the Nation and the City to discuss the transfer of funds for security.
But in January Rodríguez Larreta decided to appeal to the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation to declare it unconstitutional.
Meanwhile, in the Buenos Aires government they see as a paradox that in a few days they will have to take over more areas but with fewer resources than before.
Moving forward, there are more unknowns about what will happen to the Gendarmerie, especially in Villa 1-11-14, where January began with a string of homicides linked to a drug war.
EMJ