Security Secretary Sergio Berni responded strongly to Córdoba governor Juan Manuel De la Sota following demands to have national security forces sent to the looting-struck province.
Berni had confirmed a special anti-turmoil team of military police was already on its way to the province but cancelled the deployment after a deal was reached with the provincial police forces over a wage hike.
He warned “De la Sota waited for the province to be set on fire to call for help.”
“What the governor is doing is embarrassing, something he is used to doing, just like when the Córdoba’s fires; he waited the province to be set on fire to call the nation for help,” the official told a news channel alluding to the wildfire fire that recently hit Córdoba.
Berni said the provincial request for federal assistance was received only today’s morning at 8 am. The official then questioned De la Sota for calling for help via Twitter and waiting till this morning to demand Buenos Aires’ help.
“It is not only a matter of asking the gendarmerie for help, they also need the means to deal with the situation, this is not that we are reinforcing provincial police but assuming a duty that by constitution corresponds to the province. The twitter message was embarrassing. There are institutional responsibilities that must be assumed,” the secretary added saying the conflict affecting the province of Córdoba “was no natural catastrophe.”
“Those who monitor the country knew about this,” Sergio Berni stated in reference to the police wage dispute that led to looting and violence spreading mainly in the provincial capital and claiming the life of a 20-year-old.
Source: Buenos Aires Herald