Dokument #1013317
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Autor)
The information that follows was provided
by the National Committee (Comité Nacional) of the
Unión Cívica Radical of Argentina in a fax sent to
the DIRB on 1 September 1995, and adds to the information provided
in the Responses indicated above.
During 1994 no cases of harassment or
violence against members of the UCR were recorded.
During the December 1993 a popular uprising
against provincial authorities and the burning of the legislature
and other government facilities in the province of Santiago del
Estero, the homes of political leaders of the governing party and
the UCR were attacked. The house of Dr. José Luis
Zavalía, President of Santiago del Estero's UCR and
currently a national deputy, was surrounded by approximately 100
persons who intended to burn it down. Dr. Zavalía and some
UCR members defended the house, and some shots were fired. The
attack cannot be attributed to the government; however, during the
two-hour standoff the police did not show up.
In 1995 the following actions were recorded
by the Central Committee of the UCR:
On 13 February 1995 Carlos Vila Ortiz, a
journalist with Rosario's daily La Capital and a UCR
pre-candidate for governor of the province of Santa Fe, was stabbed
in the abdomen. He is still recovering from the attack and will
undergo surgery soon. Dr. Vila Ortiz had received threats since
1994; during the attack he was accused of being pro-Jewish and
anti-Nazi, and was told to withdraw his gubernatorial candidacy. A
thorough investigation was requested to the Interior Ministry with
no results so far. The attack is thought to be the work of
far-right (ultraderecha) elements linked to the
government.
Dr. Vila Ortiz does not practise journalism
any more, as he continues to receive threats against his family and
himself.
On 26 June 1995 the UCR House (Casa de La
Unión Cívica Radical) in the city of Cordoba was
burned down. The fire was started by a group of people during a
demonstration amid strikes by government workers. Party symbols,
files, computer equipment and facilities were destroyed. According
to the local police and the Interior Ministry a far-left
(ultraizquierda) group called "Quebracho" is responsible for
the fire.
On 3 July 1995, while the Superior
Education Law (Ley de Educación Superior) was being debated,
attempts to demonstrate by university student organizations, most
of which are controlled by the UCR, were hampered by the
overwhelming police operations (imponentes operativos
policiales) and their infiltration by individuals who provoked
the police. One demonstration resulted in arrests, and the
authorities tried to hold Franja Morada (Purple Stripe), the
university branch or rama universitaria of the UCR,
responsible for rioting.
During a debate in the Chamber of Deputies
on 23 August 1995, Dr. Domingo Cavallo, Economy Minister of
Argentina, accused Dr. Raúl Baglini, former deputy and
former president of the UCR block, of having links with a reputed
mafia. In 1993 Dr. Baglini had denounced a Government Post (Correo
Estatal) administrator, who was a personal friend of the Minister,
of having favoured private postal companies through an
administrative directive (resolución
administrativa).
The Minister also accused deputy Benedetti
of working for the same reputed mafia. Deputy Benedetti had
previously denounced the Minister for tax evasion.
In both cases the Minister was unable to
provide evidence for his allegations. The UCR has requested that
the Minister be subject to judicial proceedings for protecting
mafia organizations operating within the national government.
On 27 August 1995 office of the the
Economic Research Centre (Centro de Investigaciones Economicas,
CECE), formed by deputies and economists of the UCR, was broken
into. The stolen items included computer equipment and
investigative material on corruption within the government. The
perpetrators have not been identified.
As a closing comment the source states
that, besides the specific incidents described above, the political
activity of the UCR is carried out without major problems. The
source also points out that the UCR has been noticing for some time
that the government, and the President of the Republic in
particular, is attempting to exert a hegemonic government that
holds little respect for the forms and norms of a republic (un
gobierno hegemónico poco apegado a las formas y normas
republicanas).
This Response was prepared after
researching publicly accessible information currently available to
the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does
not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular
claim to refugee status or asylum.
Comité Nacional, Unión
Cívica Radical (UCR), Buenos Aires. 1 September 1995. Fax
received by the DIRB.