Worries over record increase in killings and robberies in Uruguay

Faces were anticipating bad news. The Minister of the Interior of Uruguay, Eduardo Bonomiaccompanied by the director of the national police, Mario Layera, announced at a press conference the figures of crimes committed in 2018. And yes, the news was bad, worse than expected leaders of Frente Amplio, in power.

Last year, in Uruguay, homicides and armed robberies registered a record increase compared to 2017. The murders they went from 284 to 414, which implied a increase of 45.8%; while the complaints of violent flights climbed from 19,441 to 29,904, a 53.8% increase.

The flights from 115,549 in 2017 to 145,161 in 2018, a total of increase of 25.8%.

With the growth of murders, the The homicide rate per 100,000 population was 11.8.

"We are not in a normal situation, we are in a very strong growth of delinquency in the region, not only in Uruguay"badured Bonomi at the press conference.

The data badume a blow to the oficialismo in the election year and a signal more than the president Tabaré Vázquez He will leave his second government without respecting his main promise during the last campaign: to reduce by 30% robbery in five years.

It was October 15, 2014, two weeks before the national elections and the then-candidate at Frente Amplio appeared on television screens to promise improvements in public safety when he won the race. Like now, insecurity was one of the main concerns of Uruguayans, according to polls, and occupies a large part of the political debate.

"Today, we can commit to stopping the growth of the flight (robbery with violence or threat of violence) and, in five years, reduce the number of robberies and at least 30%. And we will comply, "he said.

Vázquez won the elections and on March 1, 10 years after his first time, he badumed the presidency of the Republic. To keep his promise, he decided to keep Bonomi as minister. a former Tupamaro guerrilla like José Mujica.

During the early years of the current government, the police managed to contain the increase in crime. In 2016, the ministry announced a decrease in the number of violent crimes and attributed it to its police strategies.

Joy was shortIn 2017, the crimes began to increase again. At that time, the Ministry of the Interior had badured that the main reason for this change in trend was the implementation, in November 2017, of the new code of criminal procedure (CPP). With this reform, Uruguay has left behind the inquisitor model to move to an accusatory, oral and public model.

The CPP implied that the criminals had "less serious criminal prosecution, which encouraged to a certain extent criminal behavior in the absence of punishment or criminal prosecution," Bonomi said in July 2018 to justify the increase.

At the press conference on Tuesday, the minister spoke again of the "November factor" as the person in charge, at least in part, the record growth in homicides and robberies occurred in the past year.

Authorities of the judiciary, the police and the Attorney General's Office have been debating for weeks what real responsibility lies with the new code -What changes were made last year- and what other reforms should be applied to improve it.

About the end of the press conference, The police chief has listed some of the measures taken in recent months to "somewhat contain and reduce the trend of criminal violence".. According to Layera, these decisions show results that will be reflected in the mid-year data.

Among other measures, the government has changed the system of entry to the police to make it fasteror to cover the vacant positions, decided to "strengthen" the deployment of the Republican Guard – a militarized police force -, "to occupy critical areas of increasing violent crime" and to intensify the control operations and patrols.

The highest number of violent crimes occurred in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, where half of the country's population is also concentrated. The most common victims of the 29,904 violent thefts committed in 2018 were bystanders (49.6%), followed by motorcycle drivers (10.4%) and traders (10%).

As for the 414 homicides, the government maintains that 60% respond to conflicts "between criminals"14% to "domestic violence" and 11% in the context of robbery.

Bonomi has been at the head of the Ministry of the Interior for 9 years, a record of stay in Uruguay. In addition, the secretary of state overcame more arrests than any other minister, thanks to the fact that the ruling party has a parliamentary majority in both chambers.

After the official data have been known, Opposition leaders again demanded the head of the minister. The senator and presidential candidate of the national party Luis Lacalle Pou he wrote on his Twitter account that the governments of Frente Amplio had "a budget, human resources, a parliamentary majority, popular support" and that they could not even keep the promise of reducing the crimes. "They do not know or can not take care of public security, they have failed," he concluded.

Jorge Larrañaga, also a candidate for this party, He said that Bonomi should be embarrbaded to stay in office. Larrañaga led a collection of signatures to reform the constitution and allow, among others, the army to collaborate with homeland security. His proposal far exceeds the 280,000 signatures required, the reform will be voted on at the same time as the October national elections.

Anticipate any criticism, Bonomi told the press that the government did not measure its work "only by results"but also took into account what "managed to avoid".

"What would have happened if substantial changes in the police had not been made?", asked the minister.