On Monday, Judge Roberto Gallardo ordered Buenos Aires Mayor Horacio Rodriguez to cancel the police operation that has been carried out for several days around the residence of Argentine Vice President Cristina Fernandez-Kirchner.
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In the document addressed to the Mayor's Office, the judge noted that the custody of the vice president is in charge of the federal security authorities, who must act as a command unit and the operational coordination with the local security forces.
Gallardo also urged that the Buenos Aires Police continue with "its tasks of prevention and prosecution of crime in the vicinity of the home, without interfering in the tasks that it deploys in the future to the vice-presidential federal custody."
The chief of staff of the Buenos Aires City, Felipe Miguel, affirmed that the Mayor's Office is considering appealing the court ruling given that "Judge Gallardo is politicized and always rules with political intent."
In practical terms, however, such decision implies that the right-wing Mayor Rodriguez will not abide by the judge's decision and will keep the police cordon around the house of the Peronist leader. Amid this dispute, Argentine Security Minister Anibal Fernandez announced that the Federal Police will also guard the Vice President of the Nation and her home.
Currently, Cristina Fernandez-Kirchner is accused of a case of alleged corruption that could put her in jail for 12 years and take away her political rights for life. President Alberto Fernandez denounced that this accusation is the latest expression of a judicial war through which the Argentine right-wing tries to prevent her from running in the next elections.
In response to this form of political persecution, thousands of citizens have remained on vigil for days around the Fernandez residence. Police controlled by the mayor of Buenos Aires have harshly repressed citizens in an attempt to evict them from the surrounding area.