Macri welcomes talks with CFK officials but decries ‘opportunism’
The government had initially summoned Macri and city officials to the Government House late on Friday, when a demonstration of local residents to protest against the occupation of the park ended in violent clashes with the squatters during which a fourth death was reported. The meeting began around midnight and extended well into the small hours of the morning when officials decided to take a recess and resume around noon.
In a new day of crossfire, Aníbal Fernández claimed the meeting had to be halted when Macri “left the room without having reached a formal conclusion.” Representatives of the squatters and human right groups also took part in the negotiations.
Talks were resumed shortly before noon and although no agreement was reached between the parties, Fernández announced in a press conference the national government had ordered the deployment of both the Border and Coast Guards to secure the perimeter of the park and patrol the Villa Soldati neighbourhood in order to “avoid conflicts” between the squatters and the residents.
Afterwards, the Cabinet Chief also talked to the press where he announced the intervention of the Border and Coast Guards. Fernández fiercely criticized Macri, saying he repeatedly told the City Mayor during the meeting that the conflict “will not be resolved via evictions.”
Fernández also blamed the city administration for the incidents, as he considered “from a jurisdictional point of view, the national government has nothing to say on this issue.”
Macri held a press conference after Fernández’ statements where he praised the decision of the national government to deploy the Border Guard and Coast Guards at the Indo-American Park but criticized the words of the Cabinet Chief, which he considered “full of false information and political opportunism.”
“Despite the malice of the government’s rhetoric, I celebrate the fact that we were able to work together to resolve this crisis,” said Macri. The City Mayor insisted “the responsibility of public order in the city belongs to the national government, since they refused to transfer the Federal Police (to the city).”
The Border Guard arrived at the Indo-American Park around 5.10pm yesterday with hundreds of agents in trucks, vans, buses and helicopters flying over the area.
No incidents were reported throughout the afternoon, although left-wing demonstrators who had arrived at the park to support the squatters were denied entry by the police.
Villa Soldati residents also held a demonstration to reject the occupation yesterday, despite Macri’s request to suspend the protest in order to “pacify” the area.
Clashes in Villa Soldati began on Tuesday, when City Hall ordered the eviction of the people who had taken over the park. Squatters clashed with the police and two people were killed that night during the violent incidents — a 22-year-old Paraguayan man and a Bolivian woman of 24. Tension continued all Wednesday, eventually ending in new clashes on Thursday, when, given the zero presence of the police, residents and squatters clashed and another Bolivian citizen (38) was shot dead, with his wife blaming the city’s Metropolitan Police for the killing.
On Friday, tension mounted during the day as national and city authorities discussed who was responsible for security in the area — with Fernández stating the government would not deploy the Federal Police to evict the squatters. While President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner announced the creation of the Security Ministry on national broadcast, a demonstration of Villa Soldati residents escalated into a violent eviction of the squatters by the residents, burning down the tents of the people who had taken over the park while beating up and injuring several of them.
SAME emergency service director Alberto Crescenti told the media a 19-year-old youth had been shot in the head when doctors were putting him in an ambulance, but police and city sources denied such information yesterday and claimed the teenager was hospitalized in critical condition.
