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The government of Argentine President Alberto Fernández has been fighting since last Monday with a revolt by police officers from the province of Buenos Aires, who demand salary adjustments and who, with their demonstrations, have provoked protests in other Argentine provinces. This Wednesday, a group of policemen met in front of the official residence of Olivos, in an attitude harshly questioned by the government and some representatives of the opposition, among them the mayor of the capital, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta.
The protest does not have a clear leadership and began after the president announced last Friday a new security plan for the province of Buenos Aires, the most important in the country, which did not include salary increases. The police demand, among many other things, adjustments between 35% and 60%. On Wednesday, as police cars drove past the presidential residence wailing their sirens, the president called the protesters to dialogue. But the proposal was rejected, due to lack of consensus among members of the security forces who joined the demonstrations.
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In his account on the social network Twitter, the Argentine head of state said that “the problems must be faced and resolved in a peaceful and sensible way.” Fernández summoned the governor of the province of Buenos Aires, the Kirchnerist Axel Kicillof, to an emergency meeting, together with some mayors.
Speaking to the country after the meeting, the head of state announced that he will withdraw 30 billion pesos (US $ 391 million, according to the official price) from the annual transfer of resources to the city of Buenos Aires – governed by the opposition. – to increase the security budget in the province of Buenos Aires, where the police protest began. The measure will be implemented by decree and could still be challenged by the Buenos Aires government.
In the statement, Fernández said that “he would seek a solution, but without accepting that such protests continue.”
“Not everything is allowed when it comes to complaining,” said the president. – I can understand any claim and any demand, but I am not willing to accept certain forms of claim that have nothing to do with democratic life.
Other members of the government, including Foreign Minister Felipe Solá, also rejected the demonstrations. “The police are a body of armed civilians, prepared to protect unarmed civilians. The legitimacy of asking for a salary increase is no longer such when this condition is used to extort money from the State, ”Solá wrote on a social network.
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The police of the province of Buenos Aires has about 90 thousand members, for a population of 17 million inhabitants. The work increased with the pandemic, as the police began to monitor compliance with the isolation measures imposed since March. In addition, Covid-19 deprived the police of the possibility of increasing their earnings with tips, such as the security of artistic and sporting events.
In addition to the active police, the protesters, according to the AFP agency, were joined by retirees and also exonerated in legal proceedings. Armed, dozens of them gathered in front of the Force’s Strategic Coordination Center, on an avenue on the outskirts of the capital.
– We want an immediate solution. We are not asking for miracles, but this conflict has a solution, Captain Alberto Díaz, who was wearing a camouflage suit, told AFP.
In the last 12 months, Argentina has accumulated an inflation of 41%, according to projections of private economists. The last increase in police in the province of Buenos Aires was in December 2019, which currently implies a huge loss of purchasing power. The Fernández government fears that this will be the first of several wage protests, in a country that will have a poverty rate of around 50% and should suffer a drop in GDP of over 10% in 2020, in a recessive situation inherited by Fernández when he took power last December, which was exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
