Argentina president authorises shoot-down of drug planes

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Argentina president authorises shoot-down of drug planes

21 January 2016

As part of a wider security package aimed at combating the growing presence of organized crime and drug trafficking in the country, Argentina's recently-elected President Mauricio Macri has authorized the shoot-down of suspected drug planes.

On January 19, Macri - who won Argentina's tightly contested presidential election last November -- sanctioned Argentina's armed forces to take down "hostile" aircraft, a likely reference to suspected drug planes. The shoot-down provision was one of many security measures included in a government decree that declared a public security emergency throughout the country for one year. The decree also calls for a radar system along Argentina's northern border, and revamping the security program known as "Operation Northern Shield," first put in place by former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.

It was the the shoot-down authorization, however, that generated swift criticism from Macri's political opponents. Kirchner's former defense minister, Agustín Rossi, called the shoot-down provision a "death sentence without a trial," while former presidential candidate Margarita Stolbizer said on Twitter that it was an "enormous institutional error that could have irreversible consequences."

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