Sergio Berni: “Rosario is a liberated area, the state has left the territories”

The situation in Rosario seems to have reached a new level after the threat of Lionel Messi and highlighted the lack of government control over the security of the city, as evidenced by the Minister of Security of the Province of Buenos Aires, Sergio Berni: “Rosario is a liberated area, the state has left the territories.”

Week after week, violence seems to be growing in the city, proof of which is the number of homicides that have occurred in recent times. THE threats increased by 62% in one year and in February, there were more crimes than days. As if that weren’t enough, the drug trade has caused more than 300 dead in 14 months and extended to armed extortion with shootings in hospitals, courts and prison service offices.

And although the level of tension is rising, the minister assures that the panorama is different from that which exists in Mexico: “The thing in Santa Fe is a different phenomenon from the drug phenomenon that we see in Sinaloa. Whether or not it was drug trafficking remains to be seen, but the reality in Rosario is that people are terrified. When the State leaves the territory, everything responds to the laws of nature. On the territory, if the state is not there, there is the parallel narco state, that is what Rosario is experiencing”.

You may be interested: “The drug traffickers have won”, admitted Aníbal Fernández referring to the shooting attack on the supermarket belonging to the family of Antonela Roccuzzo

It is that after the ferocious drug attack on the supermarket of the family of Antonela Roccuzzo, which resonated around the world, the warnings were raised within the government itself. The panorama has even generated cross opinions among politicians by those discussing the number of uniformed officers that would be needed to restore tranquility to the region. However, far from this discussion is Sergio Berni, who emphasizes how it should be approached: “The security system is not a static word, it is multidisciplinary and a multi-factor approach. That’s why everyone is wrong when they say how many gendarmes are going to leave, it requires a global approach”.

Among these political crosses is the word Hannibal Fernandez, Minister of National Security, who admitted: “The drug traffickers have won, it is a typical event of what happened in Rosario 20 years ago. For his part, Berni took advantage of the situation to respond to the Kirchnerist official and contradict him on his statements. “Clearly I do not share his (Aníbal F) statements, it is a tragic moment. The last thing a situation like this needs is to discuss the manners of the officials. The approach must be comprehensive. The nation’s chief of staff has heard that he is going to be in charge of this operation, it seems inappropriate to meddle in a political internal between the chief of staff who is from Santa Fe and the governor of Santa Fe, this requires another approach and this happens, It is the consequence of when the State abandons the territory”, said Berni in a dialogue with América.

You may be interested: Threats in Rosario increased by 62% in one year and in February there were more crimes than days

The count of 347 homicides in the past 14 months in the department of Rosario, with 58 events so far in 2023, according to the Public Security Observatory, and 31 in February (with more crimes than days on the calendar) ; It is complemented by attacks like the one that took place this morning in the Único chain supermarket, with acts of misuse of weapons and gunshot wounds. Posters like the one dedicated to the world champion in Qatar 2023 are the norm in this type of episode.

However, far from the escalation of tension experienced in different sectors of government, the PBA Minister of Security sought to convey tranquility and hope to the citizens of Santa Fe: “I say to the people of Rosario that this has a solution, it has to be immediately. The times when the State has acted effectively have been cut off, I speak with the experience of having acted in Rosario and of having analyzed the results of this intervention. I’m sorry the world learned about this episode because he was a world figure, and I’m sorry for the people of Rosario because if it hadn’t happened to Messi’s family, surely it would have continued to deepen.

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