NEW GOVERNMENT PLAN REFLECTS GROWING IMPORTANCE OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUENOS AIRES 000376

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/31/2019
TAGS: PGOV SNAR ASEC PREL MASS EAID AR
SUBJECT: NEW GOVERNMENT PLAN REFLECTS GROWING IMPORTANCE OF
CITIZEN SECURITY ISSUE TO ARGENTINES

REF: BUENOS AIRES 102

Classified By: Ambassador Wayne for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (SBU) Summary: President Fernandez de Kirchner announced
a new public security plan on March 27 to respond to rising
public concerns about crime. The plan is focused on the
provinces of Buenos Aires and Mendoza and includes promises
of 4,000 new police to patrol the streets, a redeployment of
gendarmerie (frontier guard) forces, and substantial
purchases of equipment such as vehicles and public video
cameras. The announcement received some positive press as a
belated but necessary response to a perceived rise in
criminality, but also drew complaints for a lack of strategic
focus. Minister of Justice and Security Anibal Fernandez had
to clarify the next day that, although the plan envisioned
hiring of retired as well as previously dismissed police,
only those who had been dismissed for minor infractions would
be considered for reinstatement. The new measures probably
reflect pressures from Kirchner allies in the provinces that
the government needs to act on public security concerns,
especially given Congressional elections in June. The is the
first major response by the federal government to these
public concerns. The new measures may also signal an
opportunity for greater U.S. engagement as well, as they open
the door wider to cooperation with partners on law
enforcement and public security issues. End summary.


2. (SBU) Against the backdrop of mid-term congressional
elections June 28 and polling showing crime and security as
the top public concern, President Cristina Fernandez de
Kirchner (CFK) on March 27 announced a security initiative
focused on the Provinces of Buenos Aires and Mendoza (plan
"Convivencia Ciudadana"). The Plan calls for an expenditure
of 400 million pesos (USD 108 million) and the hiring of up
to 4,000 retired police, the redeployment of 1,500
gendarmerie (frontier guard) to troubled urban and peri-urban
areas, the purchase of 500 patrol cars, and the installation
of 5,000 security cameras.


3. (SBU) In announcing the plan, CFK acknowledged the
legitimacy of public concerns about crime but also took a
stab at the media for fanning public fears. She suggested
that those who have traveled to other large cities in the
world would know that the media abroad covered crime
differently than in Argentina, where a single case of rape or
murder or kidnapping was covered incessantly on television
"from morning until night," leaving the impression that there
had been "350 crimes rather than one or two." She urged
people not to "sensationalize" but to "search for solutions."
President Fernandez de Kirchner also shared her views on the
socio-economic sources of criminality, noting that
unemployment and wealth disparities fed crime. This, she
said, meant that any plan for public security must also
encompass "a model for economic development and income
redistribution."


4. (SBU) Two elements in CFK's announcement drew immediate
questions. The first was a line suggesting that former
military officers would be considered for law enforcement
jobs. Human rights groups questioned the wisdom and
constitutionality of the step, and it was quickly retracted
by Casa Rosada sources as an error. The second issue
revolved around announced plans to fill 4,000 new police
positions in the two provinces with retired police officers
but also some dismissed for cause. Questioned about the
suitability of hiring dismissed officers, Justice Minister
Fernandez clarified that only those dismissed for minor
infractions would be considered for reinstatement.

Another Ad Hoc Response?
--------------


5. (SBU) Experts and opposition politicians reacted with a
number of criticisms to the President's "plan," while fervent
Kirchner supporters have mostly downplayed the security issue
rather than address this response. One independent Peronist,
Paola Spatola of the "Guardia Peronista," said rehiring
dismissed officers would be "a mistake." Opposition
politician Eugenio Burzaco of Buenos Aires-based center-right
PRO also questioned the hiring of dismissed police, and
described the overall plan as little more than a bandage.
Norberto Quantin, who had played a planning role on security
issues for President Nestor Kirchner, criticized the

government's decision to announce the resource side of their
plan without a larger strategic vision; he described the
government response as "incoherent," suggesting it was
motivated primarily by "electoral" considerations.
Left-of-center daily "Critica" wryly noted similarities
between the 2009 plan and one announced in 2004 by former
President Nestor Kirchner, a plan for new police and patrol
cars that it said had gone largely unimplemented. It dubbed
the plan after Susana Jimenez, the country's popular
talk-show host, who has made a significant issue out of
citizen security. Critica also noted that law enforcement
agencies, including the Police and Gendarmerie, had received
budget cuts in recent days just as the supplemental plan was
being announced.


6. (SBU) Local security analyst Marcela Donadio of the
think-tank SER 2000 told Poloff March 30 that the initiative
simply did not constitute a "plan," because it addressed only
resources without much thought about how they would be used.
The real "force of the plan," she said, was the redeployment
of more gendarmerie to help with crime patrols in Buenos
Aires. This was the only law enforcement force in Argentina
that maintained its prestige in the eyes of the public.


7. (C) Gendarmerie Commanding General Hector Schenone
confided to ICE Country Attache his concern about finding the
personnel to fulfill the Casa Rosada's mandate, asking "where
am I going to pull so many men from?" He told the Ambassador
that they would do their best to deploy but that the task was
immense. Unnamed Gendarmerie sources quoted in "Perfil," an
independent newspaper critical of the Kirchners, went so far
as to say that the redeployments from border-policing would
leave Argentina open to drug-trafficking across the northern
border, a concern that Schenone did not raise. Asked about
this particular concern, analyst Donadio suggested the
Gendarmerie would be more likely to take men from
infrastructure protection roles than from the borders.


8. (C) Comment: The critics of the GOA's security plan
undoubtedly make many telling points. The plan appears to
have been launched without a great deal of strategic
thinking, at least as presented to the public. A close aide
to Buenos Aires Governor Daniel Scioli told the Ambassador
that Scioli had pressed the Kirchners very hard to get the
assistance as his public in the BA suburbs was increasingly
upset and critical because of the increase in crime, much of
it perceived to be drug related. Scioli and others also
apparently argued that without action on public security in
BA Province, the government could not expect to do well in
June Congressional elections, and BA Province is where the
Kirchners need to win.


9. (C) Whatever the motivations, the fundamental recognition
by the government of a crime problem and its announced
intention to apply more law enforcement resources to securing
the environs of greater Buenos Aires represents a step
forward. The government realizes that this issue has
political resonance and that it needs to be seen making
progress, in areas from violent crimes to narcotics
trafficking to trafficking in persons.


10. (C) The new measures, and the public mood that they
reflect, also would seem to open the door wider to
cooperation with partners on law enforcement, anti-narcotics,
public security and justice issues, including with the United
States. While our engagement needs to be relatively cautious
in the run-up to the June elections, we should take the
opportunity now to begin exploring possibilities for
collaboration in public security, including via regional
initiatives. This is an issue that matters to Argentines of
every class and background.
WAYNE