After the murder of Elías Ojeda Vázquez, neighbors demanded security while the Kirchnerist mayor Mario Ishii blamed Axel Kicillof
“We demand that the governor of the Province of Buenos Aires, Axel Kicillof, reinforce security throughout the territory of the Province of Buenos Aires and especially in our district,” the municipality officially stated.
Neighbors, family, and friends of David Elías Ojeda Vázquez, a 23-year-old young man murdered in cold blood by motorcycle thieves in José C. Paz, marched this Wednesday through the streets of the district to demand justice and call for greater security measures in light of the succession of criminal events affecting the conurbation of Axel Kicillof.
The mobilization went through the center of José C. Paz and ended in front of the municipality led by the Kirchnerist Mario Ishii, where the protesters displayed signs with the image of the victim and demanded the capture of the murderers. The demand was also directed at political authorities regarding what the neighbors described as a situation of abandonment and lack of prevention.
Ojeda Vázquez had left a gym around 9:20 PM on Monday. Minutes later, while traveling on Polonia and Piñero, he was intercepted by two criminals on a motorcycle who were dressed as delivery workers. The attackers shot him in the back, stole his motorcycle, and left him seriously injured. The young man was taken to Mercante Hospital, where he ultimately died.
The investigation aims to reconstruct the escape of the murderers using security cameras provided by neighbors. So far, investigators have partially established the route taken by the criminals, although they have not yet obtained images that clearly identify their faces.
The crime triggered a new clash between leaders of the Buenos Aires Kirchnerism, who attempted to shift blame. The municipality of José C. Paz, temporarily led by Lorena Espina but under the political leadership of Mario Ishii, issued a statement directly holding the government of Axel Kicillof responsible for the lack of security.
Local authorities claimed that José C. Paz is making “a huge effort with its own resources” and asserted that they even supply fuel and carry out repairs on vehicles of the Buenos Aires Police. The statement maintained that “the Government of the Province of Buenos Aires must assume total and complete responsibility” for the safety of the neighbors.
The pronouncement deepened the rift between Ishii and Kicillof, who had already clashed over issues related to Kicillof's cuts in food assistance and provincial programs in recent months.
During the protest, residents of the district reported a lack of police cars, the presence of drugs, and a generalized deterioration of security conditions. One of them described José C. Paz as “no man's land”, while another neighbor stated that several young people have already been murdered this year while returning from work or studying.
The murder of Ojeda Vázquez once again highlighted the security crisis affecting the conurbation and exposed the internal conflicts within Kirchnerism: even one of its main strongholds publicly demanded that Kicillof take charge of security.
