Thursday, May 28, 2009

Crime Becomes Election Issue in Argentina

The Wall Street Journal reports today that crime is becoming a major issue in the upcoming mid-term elections in Argentina.

In April, a truck driver was shot 21 times by a 14 year-old in an attempted robbery. Following that incident, several thousand people protested in the streets. Additionally, a recent poll done by the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires showed that 38 percent of those surveyed responded that at least one person in their family had been a victim of crime in the past year.

Ex-president Nestor Kirchner's main rival in the election, Francisco de Narvaez, has increasingly made crime an issue. His website features a "map of insecurity" where citizens can post crimes happening in their neighborhoods. He has also proposed a 50 percent increase in the security budget.

Online Sources: Wall Street Journal, www.franciscodenarvaez.com.ar

2 comments:

sofidel said...

Dear Latin Americanist,

F. de Narvaez is running against Nestor Kirchner (not Cristina!!)!

Nice blog!

S.

Erwin C. said...

Thank you for your comment. We have corrected the error in the post.

Technically, Nestor Kirchner is the one running for Congress to represent the province of Buenos Aires. Figuratively, however, de Narvaez has strongly critiqued both Nestor and Cristina.

Thanks again!