An interesting law was being discussed yesterday; one about a scoring system - much like there are in more civilized, developed and organized countries - whereby through a credit system you score "negative points" each time you make a serious traffic offense. Since the elimination of petty offenses from the code, this should have been a very quiet matter. It wasn't.
Transport trade unions - cabs, truckers and bus-drivers - apparently tried to enter Congress and show our lawmaker's what they would do about this matter, which they suddenly and after
months of lobbying, all of a sudden rejected. As they took matter into their hands, policemen reacted - some more forcefully than others - and it turned quickly into an all-out battle between union workers and cops.The visible result: lots of flying rocks, more than 40 wounded - more cops than workers let it be said - and one cop separated from the force due to a movie depicting an "excessive use of force"against a manifester.
The aftermath: Moyano threatened to pull a
full-blown transport strike as a result of the "clash" between unionists and policemen. Kirchner blew a fuse and apparently had a very tough conversation with Moyano, who withdrew the strike but is now being planned for November 29th, it seems. Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner did not intervene (as was expected, since she has not assumed her presidential duties yet).The invisible result: Moyano is pushing the envelope trying to understand his limits - he has amassed a large amount of power and is seeking to understand where and when it is best deployed. If such a reaction happened after such a small conflict, one can only imagine the negotiating style that will accompany multi-year salary negotiations. Cristina is in for a big surprise if she expects Moyano to be tamed after her husband's first term.
God help us. We need all the help we can get.
