From the change of mayor to the "security crisis": the other Mar del Plata surrounding the IDEA Colloquium

MAR DEL PLATA.– While inside the Sheraton business leaders spent three days discussing reforms, competitiveness and what Argentina should look like in twenty years, outside there was a far more immediate concern. "Mar del Plata is in a very serious security crisis. Citizens are defenseless," warned Patricia Bullrich during the IDEA Colloquium, which ended this Friday. Insecurity is no longer just a conversation among neighbors: it has begun to change businesses and to shake up politics. On Thursday night, the Colloquium moved a few kilometers to the port. Lo de Fran, on Avenida de los Trabajadores, was full. At the tables were the CEO of a mining company and executives from various companies who had come to Mar del Plata for IDEA. Outside, the scene was different: little light and little cloths among the parked cars. Insecurity had also begun to creep into conversations. Protest by residents demanding security in Plaza San Martín, Mar del PlataMauro V. RizziA local businessman told LA NACION that he made a decision he had not contemplated until recently: closing his laboratory earlier. It had never been robbed. The equipment is specialized, has almost no resale market, and the establishment handles little cash. The problem was his employees and leaving at night. "You can see the deterioration, the rise in insecurity, the fear of the neighbors," he explained. "For the personal safety of the people who work there, we decided to close earlier." Five homicides in one month; three home invasion attempts reported in less than 72 hours in the southern zone; residents beaten inside their homes. In August, three murders in less than 24 hours had sparked protests and pot-banging demonstrations. In September, the leadership of the Departamental Police changed again: it was the fourth chief in two years. According to official reports from the Municipal Center for Strategic Crime Analysis (CeMAED), in the first half of the year there were 25 intentional homicides, compared with 17 in the same period of 2025, an increase of nearly 47%. In the second quarter there were also 239 reports of robberies and thefts at businesses, 31% more than in the previous three months. The reaction of the local economic establishment was unusual. More than 30 business chambers, unions and professional associations demanded answers and questioned the "silence of much of the political leadership." Then, business leaders and figures from the city asked a far more uncomfortable question: "Who governs Mar del Plata today?" "Mar del Plata is in a very serious security crisis. Citizens are defenseless," warned Patricia BullrichMauro V. Rizzi The document bore, among others, the signatures of Florencio Aldrey Iglesias, Marcos Cabrales, Claudia Álvarez Argüelles, Antonio Solimeno, Patricio Gerbi, Blas Taladrid, Luis Terry Artusa and Carlos Rottemberg. It did not demand only security: it also spoke of transparency and clear rules. If Agustín Neme governs, they argued, he should have authority and autonomy; if Guillermo Montenegro retained influence over decisions, that too should be made clear. Montenegro was reelected mayor in 2023, but requested leave to take office as a Buenos Aires provincial senator for the Fifth District. He did not resign. Neme took over and sought to impose his own leadership. He did so on complicated finances: the last three fiscal years of Montenegro's administration ended with deficits. In 2025 alone, the consolidated financial deficit reached 16,268 million pesos. Neme's first budget, of nearly 522,000 million pesos, was approved after four extensions. Insecurity ended up entangling that transition. The Buenos Aires provincial Minister of Government, Carlos Bianco, accused Montenegro of having left "the municipality in the lurch" and uttered a phrase that sounded too much like the businessmen's question: "There is no government in Mar del Plata." Guillermo Montenegro at a Pro Council meetingFabián MarelliBullrich introduced another piece during the Colloquium. She said she had discussed the problem with Security Minister Alejandra Monteoliva and took for granted a "landing" of federal forces in Mar del Plata ahead of the summer. She did not want to make the announcement herself. "I don't want to announce it because it's not my place," she said. That statement coincided with less visible movements. According to information obtained by LA NACION, in recent weeks the possibility has gained strength that Montenegro will return to personally take charge of the municipality. Some believe his return could be imminent. Insecurity accelerated those conversations, and in them there is also strong backing from the national government. Summer sets a deadline. Within a few months, Mar del Plata will multiply its population, its economic activity and its national exposure. Arriving at the season with a string of violent incidents and an open dispute over who holds power carries another kind of cost. Protest by residents in Plaza San Martín, Mar del PlataMauro V. RizziAnd while everyone talks about him, Montenegro does not talk. He neither confirms that he will return nor rules it out. Nor does he need to recover a post he abandoned: he left for the Senate on leave and retains the possibility of returning to exercise the mayoralty. Neme tries to assert his authority. The business leaders asked who governs. The Province said no one governs. Bullrich anticipated the arrival of federal forces. Montenegro keeps silent. Mar del PlataInsecurity in the Buenos Aires suburbsGuillermo Montenegro