Guillermo Montenegro doubled down on his "anti-fissure" stance in the courts following a complaint from the Provincial Commission for Memory.

Guillermo Montenegro, mayor of General Pueyrredón, reaffirmed his "anti-fissure" stance in court this Monday regarding security operations against illegal activities in his district. In his statement, after being denounced for his alleged harshness by the Provincial Commission for Memory (CPM), he said that "public space is for those who work for the good, not for those who commit crimes."

The petition against Montenegro is a third habeas corpus petition filed by the CPM , an agency dependent on the provincial government. At the conciliation meeting held at the Mar del Plata Courthouse, the mayor of General Pueyrredón appeared with the Secretary of Security, Mariano Goncalvez, and the Secretary of Social Development, Vilma Baragiola.

"It can't be that the criminal is calm and the guy who has to go to work is thinking about where he's walking or where he's parking his car because they tell you , 'You can't leave it here,' or 'Give me this much money,'" Montenegro said at a press conference after the hearing.

The mayor described the CPM as "a commission funded by the Province," and stated that he defends "the people of Mar del Plata and those who work, not the thieves."

Montenegro spoke of a criminal activity involving the occupation of public spaces in Mar del Plata. "Now they're directly sending people to roam the streets and cause cases. We won't allow that," he stated.

He also stressed that since the beginning of his administration Its priority was “the order of public space,” which initially focused on the Red Zone, then on the fight against occupations, and now against fissures and rag pickers.

“There's an order: public spaces should be reserved for those who do good work, not for those who commit crimes. And if they keep bringing people in, we'll keep doing the same thing . I don't care how many complaints these organizations file because I've been very clear from day one about my position, which is that of all of us who live in Mar del Plata and work our asses off to make things go well,” he concluded.

The Provincial Commission for Memory requested a thorough and rigorous judicial investigation into the actions of Montenegro and his security officials against people who live, sleep, or work informally on public streets.

The CPM asserts that "the municipality deployed a series of coercive measures in Mar del Plata, including arrests, confiscation of personal belongings, and mistreatment to remove the rag pickers from the streets of Mar del Plata."

"Several municipal officials used physical and psychological violence, threats, and harassment against dozens of homeless people or those working informally on public roads. The officials, using the excuse of enforcing the municipal misdemeanor code, are assuming powers that are appropriate for provincial security forces ," they asserted.

And they added: "We consider that the aforementioned violations violate the basic principles of the actions of state officials (police officers and municipal agents), which must strictly adhere to the principle of reasonableness, avoiding all types of abusive, arbitrary, or discriminatory actions that involve physical or moral violence against people."