Jorge Macri, the Mayor of Buenos Aires, has reinforced security checkpoints along the General Paz border with Buenos Aires Province, claiming that 50% of crimes committed within the city are carried out by individuals who do not reside there.
Crime Statistics and Non-Resident Allegations
According to local media reports, Mayor Macri asserted that a significant portion of the city’s criminal activity is linked to people coming from outside the capital. This claim serves as the primary justification for the city’s decision to tighten access points between the autonomous city and the surrounding province.
Macri specifically targeted informal parking attendants, known locally as “trapitos,” who travel from the conurbano (the suburban belt surrounding the city). He described these individuals as causing disruptions within the city limits, according to reports from La Nación.
Security Measures on General Paz
The city administration has “blinded” or secured its access points on the General Paz, the highway that serves as the boundary between the city and the province. This strategic move is designed to monitor and restrict the flow of people entering the city from the province of Buenos Aires.
Regarding the intensity of these security measures and the potential political fallout, Macri stated:
“We are not going to ask for forgiveness.”
Conflict with the Kicillof Administration
The security operation has intensified the ongoing political friction between Jorge Macri and the Governor of Buenos Aires Province, Axel Kicillof. Local reports indicate that Macri is using the security measures to directly challenge Kicillof’s governance of the province, suggesting that the provincial administration is failing to control the elements contributing to city crime.
The dispute centers on the jurisdictional tension over public safety and the movement of people across the city-province divide, with Macri framing the security checkpoints as a necessary defense of the capital’s residents.
