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Revision as of 05:03, 1 September 2006 by Sebasbronzini (talk | contribs) (Canillas, Peralta and Blumberg)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Juan Carlos Blumberg is an Argentine textile engineer, father of the late Axel Blumberg, an engineering student kidnapped and murdered in March 2004. He was named Humanitarian of the Year by the LatinTrade magazine the same year for his campaign Crusade for Axel.
Argentina was at the time in the midst of a wave of kidnappings, often remaining unsolved after badly conducted investigation. In three cases in the present decade, the kidnappings ended in murder: Juan Manuel Canillas, who was killed by his kidnappers in July of 2002, Diego Peralta, in August of the same year, and the aforementioned Axel Blumberg, in March of 2004. A large portion of Argentine society viewed (and still views) the police forces as corrupt and inefficient, political leaders as unsupportive, and penal laws excessively lenient; in this context, Axel Blumberg's murder caused an uproar and was the catalyzer for massive demonstrations, protesting this perceived impunity and supporting Axel's father in his search for justice. The first such demonstration gathered about 200,000 people.
Juan Carlos Blumberg claimed he wanted justice for his son's murderers, but even more importantly, a working system to insure that such crimes stopped being common and that criminals were punished. He quickly became a model for victims' suffering families, and a media icon. The latter role brought upon him a large amount of media sentimentalism and sensationalism. Soon he also took a political stance, directly asking for legislators to harden crime laws he saw as sparing certain criminals from rightful punishment.
Very soon, right-wing political and ideological leaders took advantage of Blumberg's denunciations to criticize the policies of the national and local governments. Encouraged by this, Blumberg demanded to be received by the legislative chamber of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, and upon being invited, he gave a speech with his proposals. The legislators swiftly passed amendments to the penal laws as requested, which was later criticized as simply pandering to public opinion and introducing unsystematic changes for media effect only.
Finally, Axel Blumberg himself was somehow forgotten by public opinion, and the issue became increasingly politicized. As the wave of kidnappings abated, however, media focus shifted elsewhere.
Blumberg's association with traditional right-wing middle class ideology, coupled with his demands and denunciations, have caused him to become unpopular in the eyes of many Argentines. On one occasion he commented that human rights organizations support criminals' human rights, yet they had not supported him in his crusade. This complaint was not well received.
When he attended a support demonstration for the people killed in the fire of the República Cromagnon disco, he found a hostile reception, including shouts accusing him of being "a Nazi and a fascist". (, ) The last demonstration organized by Blumberg, on 23 March 2005, was only attended by about one thousand people.
Blumberg has become a political figure as a result of his campaign and has been courted by Mauricio Macri of the centre-right Commitment to Change party, possibly as a candidate to be governor of Buenos Aires Province for the PRO alliance .