President Javier Milei – Ansa
Javier Milei is wasting no time. After receiving the green light from Parliament for the package of cuts and liberalizations, the president has decided to accelerate the reforms.
Just hours after its approval, he presented a bill to lower the age of criminal prosecution from 16 to 13. “This is how we will fight youth crime,” thundered Security Minister Patricia Bullrich. “This new law will fight the persistent growth of youth crime, one of the greatest threats to our nation’s prosperity,” Justice Minister Mariano Cuneo Libarona said.
“Zero tolerance” towards delinquency has been one of Milei’s leitmotifs since the election campaign. Insecurity is a problem deeply felt by Argentines even if, in reality, the number of crimes is lower than the standards of the continent. The model is the one applied in New York by the then mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Reducing the age of criminal liability is the first step of the Milei plan. A project that has raised many protests from civil society, the Church and humanitarian organizations. Unicef called the measure “ineffective”. In fact, in the countries of the region where it is applied, it has not contributed to lowering the number of crimes.
In Brazil, for example, one can be charged from the age of 12, in Uruguay from 13, in Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Paraguay from 14. Furthermore, according to the latest survey by the Undersecretary for Childhood and Adolescence, in Argentina only 1 percent of serious crimes are committed by minors. Some, however, have a strong media echo. Among the latest, the murder committed in the province of Santa Fé by a 15-year-old hitman in retaliation for the authorities’ decision to toughen prison conditions for those convicted of drug trafficking.
