Police protests in Argentina remind Government of coup against Evo Morales in Bolivia

The uprising of the Buenos Aires provincial Police is increasingly raising concerns in the government of Alberto Fernández. Within the administration, government officials and other political players began to denounce an attempt to destabilize the Governor of the Province, Axel Kicillof, and there are those who are beginning to raise the spectre of a police coup like the one against Evo Morales in Bolivia.

The level of alert was increased strongly on Thursday when a large group of dissatisfied police officers moved the protest to the doors of the Olivos Residence, where the president lives, which was surrounded by patrol cars. The protests now also reached the ears of President Alberto Fernández.

A sector of the government recalled an anecdote when, during a dinner at Eduardo Valdés' café, they questioned the designation of Sergio Berni as head of the Buenos Aires Ministry of Security. The deputy said then that Cristina Kirchner wanted the ex-military to control the Buenos Aires Police because Evo Morales had warned her that the coup against him was executed by the Bolivian Police.

Only a few days ago, it was the most difficult night Governor Kicillof had gone through since he took office as governor of the province of Buenos Aires. An unprecedented police protest by members of the Buenos Aires Police concentrated in front of the governor's residence in La Plata -the provincial capital- with chants, fire and even the sound of police sirens.

The police protest began in the afternoon at the Almirante Brown district. There was no action by the government to deactivate the protest for several hours. Within a few hours other districts joined in and by night the troops of La Plata mobilized towards the official residence.

The residence is located next to the Government House in the heart of the provincial capital. The whole block was under siege for some hours. Patrol cars were parked on the corners, blasting the sirens.

A few meters away from the quarters where the Governor and his family rest, the troops lit a fire and sang in support of their demands. The tension was extreme.

On the other side of the gates, Kicillof had only a group of police officers who were in charge of the security of the building. There, a special operation was set up to protect the facilities and the safety of the people. According to sources close to the events, Kicillof asked the police to repress the protest, which finally did not happen. The government denies having made this request.

In the vicinity of the building there were some skirmishes between police. Inside the fences there were also confrontations during one of the most tense moments of the protest.

At dawn, the tension began to ease and the troops withdrew. The government ordered a fence around the block that houses the seat of government and the official residence of the governor. The fences were permanent during the administration of María Eugenia Vidal, however, when Kicillof arrived he ordered them removed.

In addition, an extensive security detail was set up in the adjacent areas and in the internal parking lot, involving dozens of personnel. In the surrounding area, police vehicles with personnel were placed and the block where the residence is located was cut off from traffic. A decision was made to prevent the protest from returning to the seat of government.