Government to send 1,500 federal agents to Rosario amid surge in violence
Tgovernment will deploy more than 1,500 new federal agents in Rosario, with officials declaring that “a solution must be found” to violence in the crime-ridden city.
Accompanied by Santa Fe Governor Omar Perotti, Interior Minister Eduardo ‘Wado’ de Pedro and Security Minister Aníbal Fernández, Cabinet Chief Juan Manzur staged a Casa Rosada press conference on Tuesday to announce the new security measures.
Fernández, installed as security minister earlier this month, confirmed that 575 federal agents would be sent to Rosario for the next two or three weeks following a surge in multiple drug-related crimes there, though he also urged the need for far more intelligence work to confront the criminals.
The security minister said that the transfer of the agents would be “immediate,” while further announcing the creation of a new Unidad 7 flying squad within the Border Guard with 1,000 officers, who would be arriving in the province soon and would remain there permanently.
“That’s important news for Santa Fe. We’re restoring security to the province and that takes time,” affirmed Perotti, who travelled to Buenos Aires on Monday to lead talks on the issue. “The signal is very clear: Argentina cannot permit these things to happen in its territory.”
Addressing the press, Manzur said Tuesday that President Alberto Fernández had instructed his Cabinet to “redouble efforts to boost security in Santa Fe” Province, insisting: “It’s a concrete sign of a national government decision to take this issue as our own, a responsibility clearly defined by the president when he visited.”
Aníbal Fernández said that the move to deploy additional forces marked a key stage in the battle against drug-related crime and violence, which he said affected the whole country.
“Our analysis concludes that we cannot be viewing this situation as something purely affecting a single city, it’s an issue which touches all Argentines,” he added.
“That’s why we’ve made the decision to add 575 agents. It’s not just Rosario and the provincial capital of Santa Fe but also the roads leading from one to the other and also coming from the north,” said the 64-year-old.
Along these lines, Fernández added: “The Border Guard develops centres known as mobile units. We’re creating Unidad 7 which is going to be based in Rosario, specifically dedicated to the task of fighting against drug-trafficking and organised crime. We’ll be sending 1,500 security personnel there between now and March.”
Early last month, the minister’s predecessor, Sabina Frederic had ruled out sending security agents to the province, justifying her decision by saying that they were “thin on the ground” and that there were far more murders in the Federal Capital.
Drug-related crime and violence shows no sign of letting up in Rosario, with three people killed and four wounded in shooting attacks in just four hours on Monday. So far this year, at least 171 homicides have been recorded by the authorities.