While the kids were protesting at the school (see previous post), a more violent skirmish was taking place a few blocks away near the Justice building as people started fighting hand-to-hand with police in riot gear. The incident was over the upcoming release of Omar Chaban, who has been in jail for months due to the December 30, 2004 fire at his nightclub that killed 193 people. Chaban will be released from jail, pending trial, as soon as he pays the $500,000 pesos bail that was set today.
The setting of the bail ignited fury among the parents of those who died in the fire. Windows were shattered as fathers and brothers of the dead confronted the police. The incident was shown live this afternoon on Buenos Aires TV as the violence escalated. Tensions were obviously very high as, in what must be an unusual tactic, the riot police climbed into their armored vehicles and rode away to safety; as the vehicles went down the street, families of the victims ran along side kicking the sides of the trucks.
In a country where justice against those who are wealthy and politically powerful often are freed by a seemingly less than fair judicial system, the families of the victims fear that this is just another indication that justice for the 193 who died in the fire will never be delivered.