A project gains support in the Congress on Rural Vandalism that creates new figures and toughens penalties

In one briefing which took place yesterday at Agriculture Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, representatives of the Liaison Table supported the project prepared by the Argentine Rural Confederations (CRA) and which is promoted by the legislator and president of the Commission, Martín Ardohain.

Likewise, the initiative had the support of representatives of different blocks, including Unión por la Patria (UxP).

For the Argentine Agrarian Federation (FAA), its vice president, Claudio Angeleri, participated; for Sociedad Rural Argentina (SRA), the second vice president, Eloisa Frederking; by Coninagro, its president, Lucas Magnano; and for CRA, César Guatti.

The project creates the figure of rural intrusionwith penalties of 1 month to 1 year in prison for anyone who enters properties delimited by fences, gates or exclusion signs without authorization. This, which was one of the points most valued by the sector, will allow security forces to act against night loitering, poaching or prior recognition of robberies, without having to wait until the crime has already been committed.

The initiative also creates the figure of aggravated damagewith penalties of 2 to 8 years in prison and fines of between 3 and 12 times the value of the damage caused, expressly incorporating irrigation systems, solar panels, silos and fences as protected assets. The minimum penalty is doubled when the perpetrator is a public official or a person usually linked to agricultural activity.

In this sense, the Barbechando Foundation highlighted that “today, damaging a bag silo loaded with tons of grain with the consequent impact can receive the same criminal treatment as a simple scratch on a car.”

Another aspect considered key and that until now has been absent from public debate is that “the real impact of these crimes is not measured by the replacement value of an asset, but by its function within the productive system.”

Fundación Barbechando cited as an example the damage to a water pump, capable of compromising access to the resource of an entire herd – a breeding cow may need between 50 and 70 liters per day in summer – and could cause great damage.

The project also updates the crime of public instigationincreasing the penalty to 2 to 6 years in prison for anyone who incites to commit these crimes, with a tripling of the penalty when the incitement is disseminated through social networks or mass media.

From the sector they highlighted the importance of this update “in a context where the organization of rural criminal acts finds in digital platforms an increasingly decisive amplification channel.”

The information session is the step prior to discussing an opinion in the Commission, an issue that the entities are confident could be achieved, taking into account that all the members of said body showed their support. If the opinion is obtained, the project has free rein to be debated in the venue.