Argentina: The town of San Martin, including crime and unemployment rates, police presence and "red zones" within it; whether the town is known as a particularly dangerous town or area of Mendoza
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 31 August 2000 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | ARG34942.E |
| Reference | 2 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Argentina: The town of San Martin, including crime and unemployment rates, police presence and "red zones" within it; whether the town is known as a particularly dangerous town or area of Mendoza, 31 August 2000, ARG34942.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ad431c.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
The Department of San Martin, of which the town of San Martin is the main urban centre, has a total population of approximately 98,000, and has two clearly differentiated areas: a dry region with few inhabitants, dedicated mostly to cattle raising and obtaining their water from ground wells, and a greener region whose main economic activity is grape and wine production, with 201 vintners, followed in importance by fruit crops (Donde Vivo 16 Aug. 2000). The Department of San Martin is described as occupying a "strategic place" in eastern Mendoza Province, concentrating the largest part of the area's economic trade and finance, and a significant economic development (ibid.). The region is a transit point between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of South America, with a multi-modal transport system in planning, and a large olive and wine processing plant for export recently completed (ibid.). However, harsh weather and federal policies and tax incentive programs for other provinces are thought to have had a negative impact in the economy of the area and caused the recent closure of a number of important industrial plants operating in the Department of San Martin (ibid.).
No unemployment or crime statistics for the town or the Department of San Martin could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate. For Mendoza Province as a whole, it is reported that violent crime has been increasing significantly: in the second-last week of August 2000, four murders were registered in the province, adding to the 69 that had occurred so far in the year (Diario Uno 26 Aug. 2000). Of the four murders, one took place in the Nueva Generacion neighbourhood in the city of Mendoza, one in Las Heras, one in Godoy Cruz, and one in Guaymallen (ibid.). In 1999 the number of murders in the province was 115, which was a decrease with respect to the 168 counted in 1998 (ibid.). The main motives for the murders are, in decreasing order: "settlement of accounts" (ajustes de cuentas), robbery, intra-family violence, accidents, crimes of passion, and arguments between relatives and/or persons under the influence of alcohol (ibid.). The number of murders in the province has prompted calls for additional personnel to be added to the Homicide Division of the Mendoza police (ibid.).
Anti-drug activities in the province during the second-last week of August 2000 resulted in the arrest of three persons¾two of them allegedly carrying marihuana¾in two separate police actions in the city of Mendoza; a raid on a house in Godoy Cruz after a telephone tip was received, where significant quantities of marihuana and three guns were found; and a youth carrying marijuana was detained at a busy intersection in Guaymallen (ibid. 26 Aug. 2000b).
Three serious crimes in San Martin were reported by the Mendoza press between 22 and 29 August 2000¾the robbery of the owner of a café, abducted as she arrived outside her home in the Comercio neighbourhood of San Martin, drugged and abandoned the next morning in Guaymallen (Los Andes 29 Aug. 2000), and one described as a "strange" one-hour kidnapping of a man and his car, from outside his house in the Ñango neighbourhood of San Martin (Diario Uno 22 Aug. 2000). The police claimed there were many gaps (lagunas) in the man's story, since he could not provide any details of his hour-long drive or his alleged captors, who reportedly abandoned the car and victim at some point on a highway (ibid.). Within the hour, the victim arrived at a police roadblock mounted to search for him, and upon his arrival there, six patrol cars from two police stations (Nos. 39 and 12), two investigations' vehicles and one police motorcycle arrived at the scene (ibid.). A third case reported by the press was the capture of a gang dedicated to coin forgery¾the second such gang captured in the province within one month (ibid. 26 Aug. 2000c). The most recent capture followed a two-month police investigation, and included simultaneous raids at four houses, two in Guaymallen, one in the city of Mendoza and the other in Godoy Cruz (ibid.).
During a 29 August 2000 telephone interview, the officer in charge of the federal police station of Mendoza Province, located in the city of Mendoza, provided the following information: there are no detailed crime statistics for San Martin currently available. However, the town of San Martin is not considered a particularly problematic or crime-ridden area of the province; it is a small town, not much bigger than ten blocks across in either direction, with a few asentamientos or recently-settled marginal or low income areas, and with orchards and farms (fincas) immediately on the outskirts of town. The officer added that, as a small town in a predominantly rural area, the town of San Martin is not particularly dangerous, and to their knowledge it is not better or no worse that other small towns of Mendoza although, like the other towns, it has been affected by the crime wave (ola de delincuencia) that is currently affecting all of the province (ibid.).
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate 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. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
Diario Uno [Mendoza]. 26 August 2000. Delia Segura. "Reclaman apoyo para la División Homicidios."
_____. 26 August 2000b. Ariel Sevilla. "Aprehendidos con las manos en la masa."
_____. 26 August 2000c. Ariel Sevilla. "Cayó otra banda dedicada a falsificar monedas."
_____. 22 August 2000. Sara Gonzalez. "Extraño secuestro de un hombre."
Donde Vivo [Mendoza]. 16 August 2000. "Departamentos: San Martin."
Los Andes [Mendoza]. 29 August 2000. "Secuestraron a una mujer, la durmieron y le robaron el auto."
Policía Federal Argentina, Mendoza. 29 August 2000. Telephone interview with head officer.
Additional Sources Consulted
IRB Databases.
Latinamerica Press [Lima]. 1998-July 2000.
Latin American Regional Reports: Southern Cone Report [London]. 1999-Aug. 2000.
World News Connection.
Internet Websites, including:
Diario Uno [Mendoza]. 22-29 August 2000.
Federal Ministry of Justice of Argentina, Criminal Statistics Registry.
Los Andes [Mendoza]. 28-29 August 2000.
Internet search engines, including:
Clarin [Buenos Aires].
La Nacion [Buenos Aires].