Rising Crime in Buenos Aires: A City Under Siege
The grim reality is that more people are dying daily due to armed assaults, or as innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire between police and criminals, or among criminals themselves. This harsh panorama is now commonplace in Buenos Aires and throughout the country. It’s as if evil itself, not a metaphysical concept but a brutal, criminal force, has escaped the realm of fiction and become a mere statistic, or an unfortunate justification for unoriginal and ineffective deterrent strategies that fail to curb the escalating damage.
Indeed, it’s increasingly rare to not know someone who has been assaulted multiple times within a couple of years, or who has been the victim of a robbery attempt, or a helpless witness to street violence.
This phenomenon of ordinary citizens turning into vigilantes (not unlike the fictional engineer Santos) is increasingly common. Pharmacists in Barrio Norte or newsagents in Saavedra, typically harmless and peaceful individuals, are suddenly forced to become armed defenders of their personal safety, their families, and their property.
The constant news of street violence raises profound questions about life in big cities and the fate of gregarious societies. No social class is immune to the frenzy and criminal aggression that has spread like a plague, affecting both the marginalized residents of Villa 31 Retiro and affluent business owners in the Park District.
The brutality of the assaults, the extreme cruelty, and the fact that many gang members are increasingly younger and often drug-addled, paint a stark picture of social exclusion. The roots of this problem lie firmly in the millions of unemployed and underemployed individuals, a figure consistently reflected in various polls. When so many lack basic livelihood assistance, it’s not difficult to understand the emphasis on deeply rooted social problems.
Unless, as is often the case, the primary motive is hunger. Who bears the shame and guilt then? Hunger fuels many issues, including drug addiction, blurring the lines between basic needs and destructive habits.
Unemployed individuals are more likely to consume vast amounts of television and succumb to nihilistic fantasies, where genuine hope is scarce, and unfulfilled desires become a torment. This void in civic life, increasingly filled by “reality TV,” poses a critical challenge to modern democracy. If the goal of an open system is to ensure equal opportunity and respect for all, how can economic inequality be allowed to undermine political equality, leading to humiliation, bitterness, and resentment among those left behind?
Moreover, the rise of the unsung hero, the individual who takes justice into their own hands, is a troubling sign. Shifting from the domestic to the tragic dimension signifies a fundamental change in one’s perception of the value of life. Even when driven by reason and a sense of justice, taking another’s life leaves an indelible mark, a sense of having crossed a line that should never have been crossed.
Nothing is more representative of this aberration than the houses with barred windows, visible from the Arturo Illia highway.