The threat to the family of Lionel Messi in Rosario got the ruling party and the opposition Deputies to come to an agreement: they called a consensus session and approved almost unanimously a project to strengthen the Federal Justice in the province of Santa Fe . becoming law now has to be approved by the Senate.

Beyond the criticisms, the crossed accusations, and the recognition that the initiative is a medium-term help that does not solve the problem , the text obtained 214 votes in favor, 4 abstentions (from the Left) and none against.

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The initiative creates 50 new judicial positions: 36 in the Public Ministry and 14 in the Judiciary; a reinforcement in the medium term since appointing so many judicial officials entails an entire administrative process that will take time. As calculated by the Congressional Budget Office (OPC), the fiscal cost is $1.106 billion per year.

The project has the particularity that it was presented jointly by the 19 deputies of Santa Fe, from different political forces. It was boxed in since May of last year , but the attack on the Messi family supermarket caused the ruling party to set off the alarms and revive it.

“According to the Procunar, 20% of drug cases throughout the country are processed in Santa Fe. Urban violence has unusual levels in that district and the number of homicides in Rosario is four times the national average,” stated Roberto Mirabella, a deputy from Santa Fe (Frente de Todos), one of the main authors of the project.

Both he and several opposition legislators called for the implementation of the Criminal Procedure Code , stopped in the Senate, where the bicameral commission that should deal with it was not even constituted . The Upper House also has pending the approval of three lists of judicial officials designated for that province.

“Due to a political decision by Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the accusatory system has not been implemented in Santa Fe for three years, benefiting criminals and drug traffickers over those from Santa Fe,” launched the PRO’s Santa Fe, Federico Angelini.

“Federal justice has the same structure 43 years ago, but in addition to that structure there are 33% of vacant positions,” warned, in turn, the socialist Enrique Estévez.

The ruling party, for its part, accused the opposition of making “electoral tourism” with this issue. “This is the path and not that of Buenos Aires leaders going to take a picture of Rosario with a sorry face or making a note with a national channel wearing a bulletproof vest and then returning to Palermo Soho to have a daikiri,” launched the Santa Fe deputy from FdT, Eduardo Toniolli, alluding to the head of the Buenos Aires government Horacio Rodríguez Larreta and the provincial deputy Amalia Granata.

“Would we be here if they didn’t shoot at the Messi family’s supermarket? Clearly not. Because we were not in 2022 when 288 people died, of those 33 were children under 14 years of age and 64 women. But national politics decided to sweep the dirt under the rug”, stated the PRO deputy, Silvia Lospennato.

On the other hand, legislators of different political colors warned that drug dealing is spreading in Buenos Aires . “I come from San Martín, where the video of the narco clowns and the poisoned cocaine came out. Did you know that no one has been detained for that reason?” launched the official Leonardo Grosso. “The suburbs are already a Rosario” , stated the opponent Alejandro Finochiaro (PRO).

The debate was witnessed by the governor of Santa Fe, the Peronist Omar Perotti , who celebrated that the project “will strengthen a structure of federal justice that is currently rickety” and considered that “hopefully the Senate will accompany it with the same speed.”

The president who finished confronting Alberto Fernández over security in Rosario reiterated “the need to have more federal forces is essential, more technology, more resources.” In turn, he raised the need to advance in the control of penalties. “If 95% of violent acts are planned or ordered from prisons, I think it is very clear where action should be taken,” he said.