Argentina Nears the Breaking Point

Social order is breaking down in Argentina and the public is trying to restore order with lynchings of alleged criminals.

The article says the lynchings have "prompted deep social unrest," but this statement has it backwards. There is deep social unrest, therefore there are lynchings. The government is losing control, it is losing authority. The lynchings are a sign that the public is taking power for itself in response to chaos.

State of emergency in Buenos Aires province overwhelmed by crime and an outbreak of lynching

The governor demanded MPs also a “quick treatment and sanction” of the bill that creates municipal police in the provincial districts.
Furthermore, the governor announced the creation of 8 agencies with a capacity to host 1,000 prisoners and 4 penitentiaries.

Queried about what drove his decision to decree the security emergency, Scioli mentioned Friday’s shooting in the provincial locality of Bernal. “There were 50 gunshots in Bernal that could have ended up in a tragedy,” he said.

But even when Scioli he did not mention it, it was obvious that among his administration’s reasons to make the announcement are the lynching cases of alleged thieves in several provinces across the country, that have prompted deep social unrest and a strong debate among politicians over the past weeks, together with statements from the Catholic Church and from magistrates.