Argentina drug violence exposes systemic weaknesses

Significance

A death threat left at a supermarket owned by the in-laws of Rosario-born football star Lionel Messi has raised the political salience of drug-related criminal activity in Rosario. However, concerns about the prevalence of drugs gangs there have been growing for a decade.

Impacts

• Provincial and federal political confrontations will continue to facilitate the proliferation of criminal gangs in Rosario.
• The expansion of trafficking groups from Brazil into neighbouring Paraguay may worsen the problem.
• Security force deployments will remain politically controversial, especially in the run-up to elections.