In a new example of its agenda of adjustment and repression, The National Government confirmed that it will seek to impose the debate on the Juvenile Penal Law in the next extraordinary sessions of Congress. This measure, which intends to lower the age of imputability to 13 yearsdoes not arrive alone: it is part of a package of laws that includes labor reform—a direct attack on the historical rights of the working class—and the modification of the glacier law, opening the door to the most ferocious extractivism over our natural resources.
The presidential spokesperson, Manuel Adorniwas in charge of making official that The discussion on the Juvenile Penal Regime will be a priority on the agenda of the sessions that will begin on February 2. The Minister of Security and senator, Patricia Bullrich, reinforced this line with a speech full of hate and stigmatization, stating that it is necessary to end the supposed “zaffaronista doctrine” and ensuring that “whoever chooses to commit a crime will pay the consequences”, under the motto of “enough of safar for being a minor.” However, behind this “zero tolerance” rhetoric lies a dangerous maneuver to divert attention from the social crisis that the government itself is deepening.
From the left, the deputy Christian Castillo He was bluntly categorical in denouncing that this initiative is, in reality, a way of “selling smoke” to the population. This Sunday night on channel A24, Castillo maintained that there is no real relationship between the lowering of the age of punishment and the decrease in crime. On the contrary, he points out that in countries like Brazil and Uruguay, where similar measures were applied, criminal acts did not decrease, but even increased. “Lowering the age of punishment does not prevent acts of this type”said Castillo, citing international examples such as Great Britainwhere the age is 10 years and the crimes are committed the same.
What the government is silent about are the hard data of the social reality in Argentina. According to INDEC, At the end of 2023, 58.4% of girls and boys between 0 and 14 years old were in poverty. Instead of addressing this emergency with inclusion policies, the ruling party decides to liquidate assistance, retain food in warehouses and cut children’s budgets. As Castillo explains well, society is “broken” and there is a generation of boys and girls who have no futurewhich favors recruitment by criminal networks.
Castillo also unmasked the cynicism of focusing the problem on minors, when they are the last link in much larger criminal chains. “The kids are the last link in chains of very large criminal companies… that have collusion with the judicial apparatus and the police apparatus,” denounced the legislator.
While the government demagoguely targets the most vulnerable sectors to protect an unjust social order, statistics from the Supreme Court and UNICEF show that Crimes committed by minors under 16 years of age represent only 0.1% of the total in the country.
It is unacceptable that, in a situation of extreme vulnerability – where 50% of children attend school cafeterias and the budget for children has drastically decreased – the only state response is prison. The official project does not seek comprehensive solutions; On the contrary, Castillo recalled that in the debates in the Criminal Legislation commissions; Justice; Family, childhood and youth; and Budget and Treasury, No childhood specialist, not even the Argentine Episcopal Conference, supported the lowering of the age of imputability, describing it as “disastrous.”.
It is important to reject outright this attempt to lower the age of imputability. The real crime is in the dismantling of rights protection programs and in the criminal adjustment that pushes millions into misery. As Castillo concludes, there are no “magic exits”; the solution goes through guarantee education, genuine and future work for youth, not by filling prisons with child victims of a system that excludes them.
Source: www.laizquierdadiario.com
