Argentina: countering terrorism in the aftermath of the 1992 and 1994 bomb attacks in Buenos Aires
| Date | 01 January 2004 |
| Published date | 01 January 2004 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/13685200410809805 |
| Pages | 84-91 |
| Author | José C. Barbaccia |
| Subject Matter | Accounting & finance |
Journal of Money Laundering Control Ð Vol. 7 No. 1
Argentina: Countering Terrorism in the Aftermath of
the 1992 and 1994 Bomb Attacks in Buenos Aires
Jose
ÂC. Barbaccia
INTRODUCTION
In order to put this paper in context it is worth
mentioning that South American countries, and
Argentina in particular, have experienced critical
political and economic transformations during the
past decade. Democracy has been reintroduced into
almost all South American countries and there has
been a liberalisation and deregulation of markets.
These changes have been coupled with and fostered
by a new regulatory framework, a closer relationship
with international economic and ®nancial systems
and new and more dynamic regional and sub-
regional trade agreements, such as the Southern
Cone Common Market (MERCOSUR). The
result is an entirely new scenario for policing activ-
ities of all kinds. Simultaneous with these changes
there began, under the strengthened democracies of
MERCOSUR, a new cooperation era based on
mutual con®dence and the absence of the old con¯ict
theories. However, those transformations have not
been accompanied by adequate reforms of the respec-
tive states' policing schemes and structures, which
would enable them to react to transnational threats.
The proliferation of organised CRIME, as well as
the eruption of `fundamentalist' terrorism able to
operate on a global scale, attacked this society
whose law enforcement structures have been unable
to prevent or combat these crimes. Argentina has
been the principal target in South America of such
threats during the past decade. The bombings that
took place at the Israeli Embassy (1992) and the
Jewish Community Centre (1994) in Buenos Aires,
with a death toll of more than 100 people, are just
two regrettable examples.
1
Argentina was an ideal target for international
terrorism, having the perfect conditions to obtain
local support as well as the potential to generate a
new base of in¯uence on the region since funda-
mentalism had not previously made any impact in
Latin America. Moreover, Argentina is an important
target for this particular kind of terrorism because it
has the second largest Jewish population in the occi-
dental world. It is also considered a `weak' target
that gives terrorists logistic advantages through
local gangs. Furthermore, Argentina oers an
image of impunity; statistics show that out of 1,000
crimes, only six result in an eective sentence.
2
POLICING THE MERCOSUR Ð
REGIONAL INITIATIVES
After the bombings in Buenos Aires, Argentina
and neighbouring countries readdressed the pro-
blem of international terrorism and developed
perspectives on how to move forward. In the
regional context, several agreements were signed
with the aim of strengthening mutual cooperation
in order to combat, not only international terror-
ism, but also money laundering, drug tracking
and environmental crimes.
3
Those agreements were aimed at coordinating
eorts for regional security insofar as ®nancial and
economic crimes were concerned. This meant not
only establishing the obligation of the parties to
supply relevant ®nancial-economic information to
any investigation on terrorism, money laundering or
fraud but also regulating the coordinated eorts of
the security forces in combating these kinds of crimes.
So far, one of the most comprehensive eorts to
police the MERCOSUR transnational domain has
been the `Reciprocal Cooperation and Coordination
General Plan for the Regional Security' approved by
the Common Market Council 22/99 Ruling.
4
By this agreement member states guarantee reci-
procal cooperation and assistance among their control
bodies, security and/or police forces and their Associ-
ates. This was to optimise community security levels
with regard to crimes with special emphasis on those
which take place beyond a country's borders. With
the Plan, MERCOSUR member states and their
associates have achieved a degree of consensus on
high pro®le cross-frontier crimes
5
and committed
themselves to adopting all measures, in accordance
with their respective legislation.
6
Insofar as terrorism is concerned,
7
the goal is to
constitute an information exchange forum on
terrorism and organised crime within the framework
of the MERCOSUR Ministers of the Interior
Page 84
Journalof Money Laundering Control
Vol.7, No. 1, 2003, pp. 84± 91
#HenryStewart Publications
ISSN1368-5201
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