January 24, 2021
THE RURAL ABC
In the last week, in the north of the province of Buenos Aires there were three attacks on silobags. In one of them nothing was stolen, only the intention to harm. These events are added to last year’s long list where around 200 were broken. Rural insecurity continues.
The Regional Association of Producers of San Antonio de Areco (ARPA) denounced new attacks on silobolsas in that province of northern Buenos Aires.
There were two events that occurred last Wednesday night: one on the border of the Areco and Baradero districts where a small producer who rented some 300 hectares of fields in that area, was opened from end to end four pockets with soybeans, although nothing was stolen from him, according to ARPA.
The other case took place that same night in a nearby field where three bags with wheat, soybeans and corn were opened to another producer. “It is ideological, they break up and leave,” said Martín Sturla, president of ARPA to La Nación.
A few days before, in a rural establishment in the area, on provincial route 31, a producer also found that two bags full of wheat had been opened to him. This time, the attackers took between seven and eight tons of the cereal.
Concern about rural insecurity
It is necessary to remember that, according to the data provided by the private sector, in 2020 more than 160 silobags were broken. The most affected provinces were Santa Fe, Córdoba, Buenos Aires and Entre Ríos.
But the producers have also faced in recent months, intentional fires in their fields and theft of property and agricultural machinery. Most of the cases were not clarified.
Unfortunately, no progress was made with the debate on rural crimes in the National Congress on different initiatives presented to increase the penalties for rural crime. “Destroying a silobolsa is destroying work and that is why we presented a bill to punish rural vandalism,” the head of the Chamber of Deputies, Sergio Massa, explained at the time.
Also during the past year a commission was created by ministerial resolution to study the crimes suffered by producers, coordinating the Federal Agricultural Council and the Internal Security Council on issues inherent to rural security policies.
Meanwhile, the producers suffer and wait. (Sources: La Nación, Infobae)
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