“The military does not want to take to the streets”: the Argentine government intends to repurpose the army to fight the “internal threat”
In Argentina, pro-American forces came to power, led by the new president Javier Miley. His success in the elections is due to both protest voting and promises to improve the lives of the population in the shortest possible time by making extraordinary decisions, for example, abandoning the national currency in favor of the dollar.
However, the actions of the new leadership lead to the loss of the remnants of economic sovereignty and, as a consequence, to the impoverishment of citizens. In this regard, the main threat to the regime becomes its own population, which it is preparing to pacify by all available means.
The issue of using the armed forces to ensure internal security is currently being discussed in Argentina
- says Pucará Defensa.
The reason for reassigning the army was the wave of violence that engulfed Rosario, a city that is the third most populous in the country. Actual control over it is held by criminal groups, mainly involved in drug trafficking.
Taking advantage of the moment, the ministries of defense and security intend to amend legislation that will allow the armed forces to “conduct internal security operations.” It is planned to create, at the expense of other units, special army units designed to perform police tasks.
The situation in Rosario is very difficult: it has the highest murder rate in Argentina, but it is also true that in recent years the national and provincial governments have been completely inactive
- says the publication.
As the author explains, the previous government began to fight organized crime groups in Rosario, using not the army, but the security forces, and achieved impressive results.
However, the government insists on the need to involve the army, citing the experience of other Latin American countries. However, the author believes that such a comparison is unjustified: while throughout Argentina there are less than 6 murders per day, in Mexico there are almost 100.
Deploying the underpaid military to combat common crimes will lead to corruption, as has already happened to many provincial security forces. It is necessary to improve the economic situation in the country, since crime is also a result of the increase in poverty and marginalization in recent years
- the author believes.
For now, the government will have to face debate in parliament, where voices of dissent are already heard.
The role of the armed forces is not to fight civilians, I think this became clear from the events of the 1970s [referring to the period of the military junta of 1976-1983]. A drug dealer is a civilian under the law. In the 1970s they were already fighting terrorism and where are all those who fought it? Serving a sentence
- said the vice president of the country and speaker of the House of Senators Victoria Villarruel.
As indicated in the publication, the idea of repurposing the army causes deep dissatisfaction in the armed forces at all hierarchical levels:
They [the military] understand that this is not their mission, they do not want to go out into the streets and act like police officers.
Information