Rash of Neo-Nazi hate crimes in Argentina's Mar del Plata.
| Autor | Gaudin, Andres |
The Argentine resort city of Mar del Plata has seen a flurry of racial, ethnic or gender-oriented attacks by neo-Nazi groups. In February alone--the height of the southern summer--there were eight such incidents in the seaside community, which was teeming at the time with tourists.
Authorities have reported more than 30 attacks since October, when neo-Nazis used sticks and stones to attack 4,000 women activists who had congregated in Mar del Plata from across the country for the 30th Encuentro Nacional de Mujeres, an annual gathering of women. The primary targets of these attacks are homosexuals, prostitutes, human rights defenders and Bolivian immigrants.
The hate groups often make death threats. But it wasn't until early in the morning of Feb. 14, during an attack in a downtown bar called Nevermind, a gathering point for gays, lesbians and transvestites, that they brandished firearms. Participants in the aggression--among them recognized members of ultra-right Catholic groups, including one made up of teenage girls--were seen by dozens of witnesses and recorded on the establishment's security cameras.
The Asociacion Marplatense de Derechos a la Igualdad (AMADI), a local rights group headed by the owner of the bar, and the Asamblea por una Sociedad sin Fascismo (ASOFA), an anti-fascist umbrella organization, submitted the security camera recordings to police and judicial authorities.
Days later, they complained publicly that only one person had been arrested for the attack. "But he wasn't detained for xenophobia or racism, or for belonging to an armed gang that threatens to kill people because of their sexual orientation. They arrested him for hitting a police officer and being intoxicated, and shortly after set him free. On whose orders?" the organizations asked.
"The people responsible for the wave of attacks in February... are protected by municipal, provincial and national authorities," AMADI and ASOFA went on to say. "They feel untouchable. And this speaks to the new political situation in the country now that the conservative alliance Cambiemos, headed by the businessman President Mauricio Macri, controls the government. The leaders of the Nazi groups are Cambiemos activists. They feel protected by Macri, by [Mar del Plata] Mayor Carlos Arroyo and by the provincial governor, Maria Eugenia Vidal, all representatives of the same party."
Dangerous discourse
Incidents reported elsewhere in the country seem to back the theory that the...
Para continuar leyendo
Solicita tu pruebaCOPYRIGHT GALE, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
