Unrest and anarchists: G20 a security nightmare for host Argentina

Argentina's government, which faces near daily, occasionally violent protests over its economic austerity program, does not want a repeat of the havoc that overshadowed last year's summit of leaders from key industrialised and developing nations in Hamburg, Germany. Protesters set cars on fire and blocked streets and bridges leading to the summit venue.

کد خبر: ۸۵۳۵۸۶

تاریخ: ۳۰ آبان ۱۳۹۷ - ۰۸:۵۰

This year's G20 summit will be held in the Argentinian capital on November 30 and December 1. Local leftist groups are planning marches against the gathering and have invited activists from around the world to join them.

"We will not permit illegal acts. Those who want to cross the line will have to face the legal consequences," Security Minister Patricia Bullrich told reporters.

The event will be guarded by 22,000 police and 700 security ministry agents, and the government has been in contact with a number of foreign security services, including those in the United States, Britain, Brazil, Italy and Spain, she said.

"People already facing criminal charges, or who have called for violence or illegal behaviour, will not be allowed to enter the country," Bullrich said.

Sources familiar with US government assessments said Washington was unaware of any serious threat of attacks or disruptions of the G20 meeting. They distance could deter some protesters from travelling to Argentina.

Asked if any members of violence-prone international groups had already tried to enter Argentina, Hernan Lombardi, technical coordinator of the gathering, said, "There have been no signs of that so far."

December is usually the month when protests over Argentina's chronically troubled economy turn violent. With inflation at a dizzying 45 per cent and the economy contracting, popular unrest could be an additional security factor.

Protesters have often taken out their fury about fast-rising prices at Christmas-time by burning stores and blocking roads. Last December police used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon to push back rock-throwing protesters angry about the government's pension reform plan.

Police also clashed with protesters outside Parliament in October as lawmakers debated a new budget containing steep spending cuts aimed at erasing the country's fiscal deficit.

Authorities will cordon off a 12-square-kilometre area around the riverside Costa Salguero convention centre, where the summit will be held. Wide parts of Buenos Aires and its transportation system will be shut down. Traffic on the River Plate, Argentina's main cargo thoroughfare, will be suspended.