Why Some Argentines Are Suspicious of Macri's 'War on Drugs'
Why Some Argentines Are Suspicious of Macri's 'War on Drugs'
BY Brendan O'Boyle | November 1, 2016
The specter of an armed forces-led “war on drugs” worries some critics – and evokes troubling historical memories.
“We have to win this war.”
President Mauricio Macri’s blunt words in August announcing a new approach to combating Argentina’s burgeoning drug problem set off alarm bells with critics worried over a Mexico-style crackdown.
Now, one of the country’s leading human rights organizations is warning that the armed forces’ increased role in fighting drug traffickers could muddy well-established norms – not to mention laws – against military involvement in domestic security matters.
In a report released in October, the Buenos Aires-based Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS) cited several steps taken by the Macri administration that promise to give the military a more prominent role cracking down on the country’s drug trade. Those included a decree Macri issued in January declaring a national security emergency and authorizing the armed forces to shoot down planes suspected of carrying drugs over Argentine territory. In an OpenDemocracy editorial, experts from CELS wrote at the time that the decree “places drug trafficking in a grey area somewhere between domestic security (the field of action of police and security forces) and defense (within the scope of the armed forces).”
. . .
A key component of Argentina’s transition to democracy in the 1980s, the military’s separation from domestic issues was established through a series of laws enacted in the wake of the country’s last military dictatorship. Citing this historical precedent, the CELS report implies that Macri’s efforts to involve the military in drug policy are, in a word, illegal. “The return of the armed forces to internal security duties violates the existing framework and breaks the multiparty consensus that established it,” the report reads.
More:
http://www.americasquarterly.org/content/why-argentines-are-suspicious-macris-war-drugs
