The national government, led by Javier Milei and Patricia Bullrich, took over the security operation from the Government of the City of Buenos Aires, in the face of the mobilization of social organizations. Without having jurisdiction, Minister Bullrich placed thousands and thousands of members of the Federal Police and the Gendarmerie on the streets of Buenos Aires, in many cases more than the number of protesters, which caused the obvious discomfort of Diego Kravetz, in charge of the City Police. “Ask Bullrich,” he answered the journalists who wanted to know about the presence of federal forces outside the three points where they do have jurisdiction: the Casa Rosada, the Metropolitan Cathedral and the Pueyrredon Bridge. There was also a clash because the Buenos Aires government refused to provide facial recognition cameras, as requested by Bullrich, given that the system was declared unconstitutional by the judge. Maria Elena Liberatori. Added to all this was the presence of the President in the Central Police Department, a fact that has no precedent and is totally contraindicated: it encourages empowerment and police violence and, consequently, if a misfortune or error occurs, If there are victims, everything would fall on the presidential figure. No president followed any operation from the Situation Room. Anyway, The move consisted of focusing attention on a march that was to commemorate the 2001 massacre, to cover up what is happening in supermarkets, grocery stores, and butcher shops.
In the evening, both the national government and the CABA government tried to put a damper on the unrest and made it known that Kravetz’s statements and position were “out of place.” “The operation went well,” they argued. All week we met with Patricia. There are no fissures between Jorge (Macri, head of the Buenos Aires government) and Patricia,” they noted. Macri himself came out with a video highlighting that “the important thing is that the logic of who controls the street changed.”
The reality is that there was a level of invasion of jurisdiction rarely seen. In the 35 pages of the Service Order for the operation there are astonishing chapters:
* The use of boats in the Riachuelo
* Drones
* Dogs
* At some points, the intervention of numerous civilian brigades is ordered, yes, wearing vests that say Argentine Federal Police.
* At the Pueyrredón Bridge, two combat groups, two containment units, 7 civilian brigades, a Logistics Support Command, vehicles, hydrant trucks.
The invasion of jurisdiction was evident. Those who remember it affirm that the Gendarmerie never intervened in Plaza de Mayo or patrolled the center of Buenos Aires. In fact, the calculation is that twice as many federal officers (approximately 4,000) as City Police agents (2,000) intervened.
facial recognition
Bullrich maintained that the protesters were going to be identified, but when the issue was raised with the CABA authorities, they indicated that the system could not be used: following a presentation by CELS, it was declared unconstitutional by Judge Liberatori. The magistrate held that the Fugitive Facial Recognition System (SRFP) could not be used because it had no control. What’s more, there were accusations that the Buenos Aires government loaded thousands and thousands of people into the system who were not fugitives, but political leaders, judges, prosecutors. The data was smuggled from the National Registry of Persons (Renaper), without any authorization.
As a result of Liberatori’s ruling, the system was inactive and when Bullrich requested it, he was told that it was not in technical or judicial conditions to be used.
No background
During the march, Milei was present at the Central Department of the Federal Police and in the so-called Situation Room. From there she made a simulation of understanding what was happening, but the fundamental thing was to give her support to the operation, with Ministers Bullrich and Sandra Pettovello standing behind her.
The incident has no history. There were Security Ministers who never monitored an operation, much less a President. The gesture empowers the security forces, puts them at the center of the scene. And Milei is involved in the consequences that could result from what the uniformed men did. Responsibility for what happens should remain in the hands of those who are actually in charge of the operation, not the highest political authority in the country.
The deception
The national government tried to focus attention on an antinomy that resonates especially with the middle class: whether the protesters were going to block the streets during their march or whether there would be no blockade of any kind.
It was the way to hide that the central antinomy lies in what happens in the phenomenal theft of real wages: devaluation, increase in fuel prices, rising prices and freezing of salaries and pensions. It was about exhibiting a position that suits the middle class, before the cataract of bad news comes upon them: school fees, prepaid bills, the restitution of the Income Tax, increases in electricity rates, gas and rents. They believe that a modest confrontation with a few thousand protesters from the leftist forces mitigates for a few hours everything that is coming.
