MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina: Interior minister apologizes for crime wave comment

Interior Minister Aníbal Fernandez yesterday apologized for having said two weeks ago that there wasn't a crime wave in Argentina.
“I put my foot in it. I apologize,” said the minister.

Security concerns made the headlines in the last few weeks following a handful of high-profile crimes in the city of Buenos Aires, which included a serial shooting spree in the city neighbourhood of Belgrano and the murder of two people during a restaurant robbery in the nearby Colegiales.

As city residents were voicing their anger at what they described as rampant insecurity, Fernandez said there was no such crime wave, citing official crime figures he did not reveal in detail. The minister had attributed the security fears to "a sensation of lack of security" largely fuelled by the media.

On Tuesday night, Fernandez received a group of residents from Belgrano and Barracas, who presented the minister with some proposals to improve security in their neighbourhoods. One of their ideas was to create local security forums to help police to prevent crime. The residents told Fernandez that crime was "real" and not just a public perception.

"I somehow wanted to apologize to these people," said the minister in a radio interview yesterday, "and to tell them that I don't live inside a tupper-ware."

Fernandez was in the eye of the storm after his no-crime wave comment and some speculated his job could be on the line. As interior minister, Fernandez is in charge of running the federal police, who patrols the city of Buenos Aires. His comments also spawned a debate over crime statistics.

The daily La Nacion reported on its front page on Sunday that crime in the city of Buenos Aires had gone up by almost four percent in the first four months of the year compared to 2005. The story sourced the information on a federal police report. But the interior minister said yesterday that the story was a fake.

"The way the information was presented was unfair," said Fernandez, "because one should also see whether those crimes reported endangered the lives of the victims or not."

According to Fernandez, Interior Ministry statistics show that violent crimes are waning, although he acknowledged petty offences might have increased. Crime has posed a tough challenge for the government of President Néstor Kirchner, who has led Argentina during three years of robust economic growth.

In 2004, anti-crime crusader Juan Carlos Blumberg organized three massive demonstrations to demand tougher legislation and policies against crime. Blumberg became a popular figure overnight, following the murder by kidnappers of his only son, 23-year-old Axel Blumberg. As a few hundred people gathered in Belgrano to demand more security two weeks ago, Blumberg announced he would organize a demonstration in Plaza de Mayo. He did not say when it would take place.

On Tuesday, the federal police announced plans to install hundreds of security cameras at train and subway stations. Public transport has also been in the spotlight recently, as three women reported that they had suffered rape or attempted rape in the city's subway system. Fernandez said yesterday the administration hopes the camera programme would solve "a problem that was worrying for all of us." (BAH)