News of security

VIOLENCE IN MEXICO

Killing of seven-year-old girl stokes anger in Mexico

17-02-2020 23:23 Young girl abducted from entrance of her primary school later found murdered. The killing of Fatima, 7, has stoked rising anger over brutal slayings of women in Mexico.

Bloomberg

Top Trump official eyed for Inter-American Development Bank

17-02-2020 08:08 Mauricio Claver-Carone, the senior director of the NSC for Western Hemisphere Affairs, is being considered for the executive vice-president’s job at the IDB, according to reports.

MINISTRY POSITIONS

The politics of security

25-01-2020 11:28 Curiously enough, ever since the ministry’s birth in late 2010, Argentina’s “top cop” has always been a woman apart from six months.

by Michael Soltys

INTERVIEW WITH EX-SECURITY MINISTER

Patricia Bullrich: ‘This government is turning us into a punch bag’

25-01-2020 11:08 Former security minister turned PRO leader on Mauricio Macri, Marcos Peña and why criticism from the government inspires intransigence.

by Ezequiel Spillman

COLOMBIA PEACE PROCESS

UN envoy for Colombia: Peace depends on stopping killings

14-01-2020 14:21 Carlos Ruiz Massieu's comments come in the wake of news that Colombian authorities thwarted planned attempt to kill ex-FARC commander Rodrigo Londoño.

End of 'Chocobar doctrine'?

Bullrich bemoans security minister's move to remove Macri-era protocols

24-12-2019 13:04 Recently departed security minister accuses new government of holding "ideological apparatus that is always on the side of the thief."

SANTIAGO MALDONADO

Santiago Maldonado case: Minister plans to review actions of security forces

20-12-2019 14:21 “There was a lot of negligence in the operation,” says Sabina Frederic. New security minister orders report into Border Guard's actions during time of late artisan's disappearance.

New Cabinet

The chosen ones: Who's who in Alberto Fernández's Cabinet

10-12-2019 00:45 President-elect unveiled his team at press conference on Friday in Puerto Madero. Here's a guide to who's who in the incoming administration.

Poverty

New UCA report puts Argentina's poverty level at 40.8%

06-12-2019 15:06 Some 16 million Argentines now below the poverty line, with 3.6 million living in extreme poverty, reports UCA's Observatorio de la Deuda Social.

UN NUCLEAR WATCHDOG

New IAEA chief Rafael Grossi promises 'firm and fair' stance on Iran

02-12-2019 12:32 Incoming head of the United Nations' atomic watchdog agency says he will take a "firm and fair" approach toward inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities, and plans to visit Tehran in the near future.

NUCLEAR WATCHDOG

Rafael Grossi takes charge of UN nuclear body

02-12-2019 07:43 Argentine diplomat will be confirmed as the new director general of the UN's nuclear watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Monday, with the growing crisis over Iran's nuclear programme at the top of his in-tray.

Transition of Power

Talks over Cabinet down to three posts: security, transport, economy

01-12-2019 21:20 Less than five days out from Alberto Fernández's December 6 deadline for announcing his Cabinet, at least three key posts remain unfulfilled. Who will head the security, economy and transport portfolios?

by Rosario Ayerdi

BLOOMBERG

Civil unrest haunts those who remember Latin America’s juntas

19-11-2019 13:46 Unrest in the region is putting soldiers back into the public eye.

CRIME & SECURITY

Mercosur nations agree to let police cross borders in pursuit of criminals

07-11-2019 18:29 Security ministers from four nations agree deal in Foz de Iguaçu. However, accord must still be ratified by governments and legislatures of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

IAEA

IAEA Explainer: What is the International Atomic Energy Agency?

30-10-2019 11:43 Argentina's Rafael Mariano Grossi will lead the global agency tasked with steering the Iran nuclear deal.

REPORTS

Mauricio Macri's brother suffers 'minor injuries' during break-in at home

23-10-2019 12:09 Seven arrested after burglary at home of Mariano Macri at the gated community of La Comarca, in General Pacheco, near Tigre.

DEMONSTRATIONS IN CHILE

Piñera seeks end to Chile's crisis after 15 die in violent clashes

22-10-2019 12:55 Chile president to meet with other political parties in bid to end street violence; Presidential hopeful Alberto Fernández and Security Minister Patricia Bullrich weight in on crisis.

CYBERCRIME

Richard Berry: ‘In the UK today, statistically cybercrime is 50% of our crime’

21-09-2019 11:44 Richard Berry is the United Kingdom’s National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for the Investigatory Powers Act. He has over 28 years of policing service, with significant focus upon investigations and intelligence.

by Aurelio Tomás

VACA MUERTA

Government tasks Gendarmerie with protecting Vaca Muerta shale formation

17-09-2019 13:36 Security Ministry orders Argentina's border guards to guarantee security of activity at geological formation located in Neuquén basin.

DATA BREACH

Almost entire population of Ecuador has personal data leaked online

17-09-2019 12:20 Almost the entire population of Ecuador had their personal data leaked online from an unsecured server in Miami, security experts said Monday.

FROM A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

Braxit, as well as Brexit? Mercosur and Argentina

31-08-2019 01:00 It might be an exaggeration to talk of “Braxit” but Brazil has been conveying the impression that it has outgrown Mercosur throughout this century and not just now.

by Michael Soltys

CRIME & SECURITY

Killings by police divide Rio, with Brazil's famed city weary of crime

22-08-2019 09:32 Brazilian human rights and victims' groups are raising alarms about the record levels of deaths at police hands in the state of 17.2 million people, with 1,075 slain in the first seven months of the year, according to official figures. And far-right Rio state Governor Wilson Witzel and President Jair Bolsonaro are pushing to give police a still-freer hand.

Climate Crisis

UN climate report: Change land use to avoid a hungry future

08-08-2019 13:22 Report states human land use will trigger cycle of scarcer of more expensive food.

ESPERT ATTACK

Vehicle carrying presidential candidate José Luis Espert attacked with rocks

07-08-2019 10:14 Liberal outsider for the presidency, José Luis Espert, suffers alleged attack en route to television appearance in Buenos Aires.

Environment

Greenpeace crashes Rural Society event with anti-deforestation protest

05-08-2019 10:30 Security Ministry lays charges against environmental organisation over cunning anti-deforestation protest just metres from President Mauricio Macri.

Foreign Minister

Authorities 'concerned' about terrorist presence in LatAm, says Faurie

20-07-2019 09:25 Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie's comments came one day after the 25th anniversary of the bombing attack on the AMIA cultural centre in downtown Buenos Aires.

POMPEO VISIT TO BA

US deepens relationship with Argentina, announces two new security agreements

19-07-2019 15:56 "Our partnership is here to stay," declares US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, as he unveils new accords with Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie.

by Lucas Robinson

Vicious attack

Assailants slit bus driver's throat; drivers strike to demand more security

17-07-2019 09:51 Drivers in Lomas de Zamora, in Buenos Aires province, protested Wednesday to call for greater security measures on bus services.

Mixed reactions

Rights groups decry volunteer youth 'civil service'

16-07-2019 16:38 Nobel Peace laureate Adolfo Perez Esquivel lambasts the Macri government: 'Democratic values are built in public schools'.

Weapons Seizure

Florida scheme to smuggle weapons to Argentina busted

12-07-2019 13:59 US officials say the probe led to the seizure 52 AR-15 assault rifles, 189 other long weapons, 156 handguns, 30,000 rounds of ammunition and US$110,000 in cash. Two other people were previously charged in the case.

Copa América

Brazil to unroll large security operation for Copa America

11-06-2019 13:59 Brazil will deploy increased security measures as it braces for the start of the Copa América on Friday. Argentine referee Néstor Pitana is chosen to officiate the inaugural match between the hosts and Bolivia.

Copa América

Brazil, Argentina agree plan to block 5,000 hooligans from Copa América

10-06-2019 10:22 Agreement signed by Security Minister Patricia Bullrich and her Brazilian counterpart, Sergio Moro, will block entry of barrabrava into nation ahead of tournament.

POLICE BRUTALITY

Demonstrators demand justice in protest against police brutality

24-05-2019 19:46 Public uproar at San Miguel del Monte deaths prompt hundreds of people to stage a march "against the trigger-happy" in the streets of Buenos Aires.

BUENOS AIRES PROVINCE

12 police officers suspended after four killed and shots fired during chase

23-05-2019 17:08 The incident happened Monday when a car full of young people failed to stop on police orders in the small rural town of San Miguel del Monte, about an hour's drive south of the capital. Four people – the driver, 22, a 14-year-old youth and two girls aged 13 and 14 – were killed.

BUENOS AIRES CITY

Two homeless people set on fire in shocking attack in Mataderos

22-05-2019 17:49 Video filmed by the attackers shows brutal attack in which two aggressors douse homeless person in flammable liquid and set it alight.

CRIME AND SAFETY

Minister Bullrich’s taser guns to hit the Buenos Aires streets in March

17-01-2019 12:57 Government confirms electric weapons will be in use in less than two months' time.

by Anna Laffrey

POVERTY

Gun rules grieta: Bullrich’s move to empower police sparks controversy

08-12-2018 07:58 Security Minister Patricia Bullrich defends resolution granting federal security officers greater freedoms to use their weapons, as human rights organisations lead criticism of the move.

by Santiago del Carril

THE FUTURE OF WORK

Photo essay: Jobs (and) security

26-05-2018 09:18 Hundreds of owners and tenants of middle-class buildings in the nation’s capital have hired a new virtual security service called ‘Ojo del Halcón’

CRIME AND SECURITY

Uruguay unnerved by spike in violence

05-05-2018 09:00 The killing of two youngsters has shone a light on the growing number of murders in Uruguay. There were 147 in the first four months of the year, data shows, compared with 81 in the same period in 2017 -- an increase of more than 80%.

AGAINST DECRIMINALISATION

'The Netherlands is a narco-state', says Argentina's Security minister

23-04-2018 03:45 A bill to reform parts of the Criminal Code, currently before Congress, includes measures to loosen restrictions on drug consumption.

cold-blooded murder

Police arrest two men suspected of murdering bus driver

17-04-2018 14:54 Police on Tuesday announced the arrest of two suspects, as bus drivers on several key suburban lines continued striking.

US$62m worth of cocaine

Russian 'mastermind' in Argentina cocaine plot arrested in Germany

02-03-2018 10:19 Prosecutors in Berlin said the 49-year-old Russian national was detained as part of an international investigation launched by Moscow.