The images of a group throwing dung at the door of José Luis Espert’s house In San Isidro they circulated quickly through networks and news channels. The episode, which at first glance seemed an act of minor provocation, resulted in a judicial operation with several arrests, raids and crossed accusations of political persecution.
By order of Judge Sandra Arroyo Salgado, multiple raids were made in private homes and in units of the municipality of Quilmes. The operation is part of the investigation for the attack against the housing of the liberal deputy, in which militants would have thrown excrement and hung a parade with insults aimed at Espet.
According to judicial sources, the detainees were identified from security cameras in the area and the crime of damages and threats are charged. Among the delayed people figure Alessiaa young militant who is already detained in Ezeiza (is in charge of the Directorate of Sensitization and Promotion of Rights of the Buenos Aires Ministry), and Eva Mieri, Secretary of Women and Diversities of Quilmes, who has been incommunicado for hours, according to Mendoza.
The political reaction soon arrived. The mayor of Quilmes spoke on his social networks denouncing the operation as an attempt to discipline the opposition militancy to the national government. In an extensive thread in X, Mendoza criticized the judicial measure, considering it an outrage to the rule of law:
“At the request of Arroyo Salgado, during this morning they raided, and follow now, several private homes, plus the municipality of Quilmes.”
The communal chief also denounced the lack of communication of Mieri, whom she described as a victim of an armed cause. In another textual, he remarked:
“They have incommunicado to @Evamieri for more than three hours.”
For Mendoza, judicial investigation lacks real livelihood and is part of a political persecution scheme. In his post, he said: “Everything completely illegal and antidemocratic, within ‘The investigation’ that has aless of Alessia in Ezeiza, for a week, by a parade and a little dung in the path of the protected deputy @jlespert.”
The mayor linked the operation to an attempt to intimidate and paralyze the Kirchner militancy: “It is not investigation: it is persecution of political militancy. It is not justice: it is impunity for the mafia. It is not a crime: it is to put fear and paralyze.”
Finally, Mayra Mendoza closed her message with a direct disqualification towards Espert, accusing him of cowardice and anticipating that the dispute will be at the polls:
“Hop: leave the kids alone, you’re a real cagon. If you are so male, if you have it so much, see you at the polls!”
For his part, the liberal deputy did not issue public statements after the raids, but days ago he had described the wood attack as an “act of typical vandalism of Kirchnerism that seeks to intimidate, but it will not achieve it.”
The political background
The episode is not isolated. It occurs in a context of maximum tension between freedom advances and Buenos Aires Peronism, where Quilmes works as a bastion of hard Kirchnerism. Espert, currently deputy for the province of Buenos Aires, maintains a public confrontation with Mayra Mendoza, who accuses of using municipal funds to finance political militancy.
From the local ruling they interpret that the judicial deployment responds to the national strategy of disciplining leaders and militants opposed to Javier Milei. “They look for an exemplifier effect: put fear so that no one dares to protest,” they said from the environment of Mendoza.
On the other hand, from Justice they argue that the crimes investigated are clear: damage to private property, threats and coercion. The fact that it was a screw instead of painting or other elements does not modify the criminal type. “It is not a issue of militancy, it is a crime against the integrity of the housing and the tranquility of the family,” judicial sources said.
The cause will continue to advance this week with new investigative statements and possible requests for preventive detention. Meanwhile, the municipality of Quilmes evaluates to convene demonstrations in support of the detainees, under the slogan that “the protest is not a crime.”
By rn
