On March 2, the surname of the mayor of Rosario traveled the world. Lionel Messi had been threatened through a shooting at his mother-in-law’s supermarket and a sign said they were waiting for him. “Javkin is a narco, he will not take care of you,” he completed.
That same day, at the meeting of the Provincial Security Council, Pablo Javkin exploded. “This is a change for me from the security forces, because I exposed them,” he repeated alienated.
Two weeks after the fact, NEWS asks the mayor of Rosario about his suspicions about that intimidation: “It had different characteristics than all the drug threats we saw before. I have no doubt that Justice must investigate whether it came from sectors involved with security forces. The radical leader is very critical: he even said that all criminal gangs have police collusion.
At 51, Javkin is facing the most important political challenge of his career: the advance of drug trafficking in Rosario generated a climate of excessive violence. Meanwhile, he has an internal fight: he fights against prostate cancer whose treatment has been successful: “A few days ago I had my first control study. Half well. I am with the care of the hormonal treatment ”, he says. The last months were of maximum tension.
Counterpoint. “It is appreciated that the Government has recognized the issue for which we have been fighting,” Javkin tells NEWS about the dispute that had arisen with the President and his Minister of Security, due to the scarcity of resources that they sent to fight against a crime federal.
On Wednesday the 8th, Aníbal Fernández went to Rosario to present 300 new gendarmes who reinforced the Unified Command. “We are going to invest what is necessary, we are not going to stay still. They cannot threaten the people,” said the Security Minister. And he added: “You cannot live with your heart in your mouth. The drug structure was gaining space”.
By that time, the violence had escalated to the chilling average of one death per day at the beginning of 2023, a 12-year-old boy had been murdered in a drug dispute and the political fight between the mayor, Governor Omar Perotti and the national government he had already had too many rounds.
“Now we have to maintain this new operation, with the weekly presence of the Ministry of Security in Rosario. Progress was made with the incorporation of technology to decrypt cell phones and ballistic technology. In addition, the relationship between federal and provincial forces and the support of the municipality improved”, lists Javkin about the work of the last days.
The other worrying problem is the freedom with which drug lords handle crime from prison. A paradox. “Look at the impunity they have, that they were planning a helicopter escape,” he maintains for the Esteban Alvarado case. And he adds: “95% of serious crimes originate in penitentiaries. We need to improve intelligence.”
Javkin is not concerned about the stigma that drug trafficking may have generated in his district. “Rosario is a marvelous city, which creates and produces like few others”, he says. And he adds: “Violent crime is geographically concentrated. The tourist who comes cannot believe it, they look like two different locations. But the same thing happens in the Capital: no one who goes through Bajo Flores, for example”.
In any case, the demands on the Government do not stop: “My political decision is to fight so that people understand how beautiful this city is. But we are not going to loosen up with the request that Rosario requires national help. The fight continues.
Future. Javkin began his political career while studying law at the National University of Rosario. He was national president of the Radical Youth and also of the Argentine University Federation for Franja Morada.
In 2019 he took the city from socialism and now he has two options: seek re-election in Rosario or make the provincial jump. “This is not the time to talk about candidacies,” the mayor told NEWS. But in his environment they are already studying the possibilities within the Front of Fronts that includes Together for Change and the Progressive Front: if Carolina Losada gives up running for the governorship, he is willing to launch an internal campaign against Maximiliano Pullaro, the former minister Santa Fe Security.
In addition to his work as mayor, Javkin is a professor of Public International Law at UNR. “Luckily I gave in the second quarter, if it was my turn now it would be complicated,” he says about the leading role he had during this time.
A fan of Newell’s, he has been attending the same stalls at the Marcelo Bielsa stadium for two decades. He assures that from time to time he joins some “picadito” in the University club, although his favorite discipline is basketball.
Although in reality now he lives the sport through his children, ages 13 and 10, who also play basketball. Age and work were leaving him off the courts.
At the beginning of 2022 they discovered prostate cancer that he treated with radiotherapy. Controls and care continue, but the outlook is encouraging: “In the first studies everything goes wrong. But then you trace it back,” she says. And he adds in soccer language: “It’s as if the first four dates shit you on goals. There you have to endure, because as the tournament goes on you start to win”.
After his fight with the government, Javkin was exposed in the national showcase. In the last month he received the visit of several presidential candidates: Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, Facundo Manes and Gerardo Morales came to Rosario to support him. Even Patricia Bullrich designed an anti-drug plan in case she is elected president.
While he is deciding his political future and the tension with the government is lowering, the mayor believes that it is time to start reversing the drug-trafficking situation in Rosario: “Now comes the stage of achieving results,” he says.
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