Argentina On Brink Of Anarchy As Vigilantes Grow

by Marcela Valente

Residents of Las Catonas, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, set fire to a house last October that was, a spokesman said, a den of thieves, drug dealers, and people who take apart stolen cars, all of whom enjoyed the protection of the local police station.

"The state's abandonment of its protective role and the frequent links between the police and criminal organizations have led to a dangerous state of affairs over the past year in which violent and desperate responses by people trying to defend themselves have become more and more common," lawyer Gustavo Palmieri told IPS.

Argentina's economic collapse, which began in December 2001, has led to a rise in crime, as well as to violent actions by citizens who feel unprotected, the complicity of police with the criminal underworld, and the "complete break-up" of the state bodies in charge of law enforcement, he noted.

Palmieri is the head of the Institutional Violence and Citizen Security program of the non-governmental Center for Legal and Social Studies, which is made up of lawyers, sociologists, political scientists and other experts who study the phenomenon of police brutality and suggest policy changes to improve public safety and law enforcement.

"The poor suffer the greatest impact of crime, violence and trigger-happy police, and for that reason they often have desperate reactions," he said. "But if they are asked, many believe the solution lies in controlling and monitoring the police and providing better social support and networks to keep young people from falling into crime."

A profile of today's "new delinquent," drawn up by two Argentine sociologists at the request of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), found that a majority of them are under 25 and have no criminal records. In addition, they tend to be undereducated and unemployed, and poverty has a "compelling" influence on their behavior, according to the authors.

Statistics from the Security Ministry of the eastern province of Buenos Aires, which is home to nearly 40 percent of Argentina's 37 million people, indicate that the number of homicides grew from five to seven a day between 2001 and 2002, and that seven robberies an hour are reported -- which, however, amount to just 25 percent of the real number.

The low percentage of robberies that are reported is an expression of the lack of public confidence in police investigations and in the chance that the cases will be resolved by the justice system.

"Reports are only filed when there is insurance to collect," a police officer who asked to remain anonymous remarked to IPS.

A new phenomenon appeared in crisis-stricken Argentina last year: the "express kidnapping", which went from a few isolated cases to becoming routine.

The victims are generally held for a short time, no more than a few hours, while the kidnappers drive them to an automatic teller machine and force them to withdraw cash, or to their homes to demand ransom from their families.

"All kinds of crime have risen, but express kidnappings have increased exponentially," stated the report by the Buenos Aires province Security Ministry.

In the fight by middle and upper-income sectors against the growing insecurity and lack of effective law enforcement, gated communities have mushroomed.

In addition, local residents have hired increasing numbers of private security guards who are posted on street corners, more and more bodyguards are employed, purchases of alarms and insurance policies have soared, and a growing number of vehicles are armor-plated.

But in a country where 52 percent of the population has fallen below the poverty line, many cannot afford such measures, and have decided to create vigilante groups, some of which have responded to the problem of crime with violence of their own.

In a survey carried out by the Graciela Romer polling firm, 15 percent of respondents in the province of Buenos Aires said they owned firearms, and another 23 percent said they would like to have one to protect their homes, families or businesses.

Public safety has deteriorated in Argentina to the point that violent incidents that would have caused a commotion in the past went nearly unnoticed in recent months.

One example was the case of a man in Lanœs, a neighborhood in the southern part of the metropolitan area of the city of Buenos Aires, who shot and killed a 13-year-old boy who was trying to steal the ornaments from the Christmas tree in his front yard in December.

Not far away, a 13-year-old girl was killed when thieves tried to steal her bicycle. The girl was carrying a revolver that her mother had given her for self-protection, but in the ensuing shoot-out, she was at a disadvantage due to her lack of experience with firearms.

Vigilante attacks by citizens taking justice into their own hands have become more and more frequent in the low-income neighborhoods that ring the capital.

In the westside neighborhood of JosŽ C. Paz, a young man was beaten to death by a man who accused him of trying to steal his car a week earlier, and another was fatally shot by a group of people who accused him of molesting a 12-year-old girl.

Six years ago, when a would-be thief was shot and killed by the owner of the car he was trying to steal, the incident received heavy media coverage.

"Argentina is experiencing a process of growth of social inequality in terms of access to education, health care, and justice. But the greatest inequality we see today is in the terrain of public safety," said Rosendo Fraga, an analyst with the New Majority Studies Center, a local think-tank.

"The rich entrust their protection to private security, to bodyguards, but the poor cannot afford that possibility," said Fraga as he explained why it is the lower-income sectors who are the loudest advocates of stiffer sentences for those convicted of crimes against private property.

"The desperation often arises from that lack of protection," he added.

"To the extent that the state fails to fulfill its role as a provider of public safety, we end up with the law of the jungle, where everyone tries to protect themselves even at the cost of causing more victims," said the analyst.