3 ms·

Wait- Argentina was a dictatorship for many years and the police were thugs enforcing the will of the ruling elite. To extrapolate from their behavior that all

Wait- Argentina was a dictatorship for many years and the police were thugs enforcing the will of the ruling elite. To extrapolate from their behavior that all police everywhere are just waiting to put the boot in at every opportunity seems myopic at best.

the_af 7y ago
I mentioned that, but note at this point it's not just that. Democracy here returned in '83. While there is a structural problem of the police force still employing people from the dictatorship era, it's mostly fresh blood now. Police officers behaving brutally are a thing of new democratic governments here. Democratic neoliberal pro-business governments like our recent former president took a hardliner stance for police enforcement, encouraging a "heavy hand", but even supposedly "liberal" governments have a difficult time with police brutality. These are young officers harassing the poor, the homeless, student organizations, etc. Other countries like the US also have a history of the police harassing the poor, activists, blacks, etc. I see it in the news and reading about the history of the US. It's not specific to Argentina.
- panzagl 7y ago
  The difference comes in the meaning behind words like 'harassing'- when the police here harass the homeless it's shining a light on them and telling them to get moving, not usually a kick or a poke in the ribs. Of course there are other issues in the US, mostly centered around race, where we don't look that good...
  - the_af 7y ago
    Oh, I agree it's not exactly the same situation. Though I believe the power difference between someone in uniform wielding a stick and a gun and a homeless/poor person is more universal and tends to lead to abuse. (In some cases, not even a poor person, just an unarmed one, can lead to police excessive use of force. We have seen this many times, even in the US).

the_af 7y ago

I mentioned that, but note at this point it's not just that. Democracy here returned in '83. While there is a structural problem of the police force still employing people from the dictatorship era, it's mostly fresh blood now. Police officers behaving brutally are a thing of new democratic governments here. Democratic neoliberal pro-business governments like our recent former president took a hardliner stance for police enforcement, encouraging a "heavy hand", but even supposedly "liberal" governments have a difficult time with police brutality. These are young officers harassing the poor, the homeless, student organizations, etc. Other countries like the US also have a history of the police harassing the poor, activists, blacks, etc. I see it in the news and reading about the history of the US. It's not specific to Argentina.

panzagl 7y ago
The difference comes in the meaning behind words like 'harassing'- when the police here harass the homeless it's shining a light on them and telling them to get moving, not usually a kick or a poke in the ribs. Of course there are other issues in the US, mostly centered around race, where we don't look that good...
- the_af 7y ago
  Oh, I agree it's not exactly the same situation. Though I believe the power difference between someone in uniform wielding a stick and a gun and a homeless/poor person is more universal and tends to lead to abuse. (In some cases, not even a poor person, just an unarmed one, can lead to police excessive use of force. We have seen this many times, even in the US).