A rare sanction against 24 police officers is being introduced into the campaign: Bullrich met with Bondarenko and demanded that Kicillof reinstate those who were dismissed.

Following the controversy surrounding the expulsion of 24 Buenos Aires police officers by the government headed by Axel Kicillof for allegedly working electorally for the candidacy of Maximiliano Bondarenko , who is leading the LLA ticket in the third electoral section, the retired commissioner visited Patricia Bullrich at the Ministry of Security on Thursday, became emotional, and accused the provincial administration of treating the exonerated officers "like criminals." The official supported the police candidate and demanded that the provincial leader reinstate the sanctioned officers to the force .

"It's not like they say; the Provincial Police is a family. The work a police officer does gives him a strong sense of belonging to his colleagues. Like everyone else, like you, you'll get together for a barbecue. That's what happened," Bondarenko argued.

Accompanied by Bullrich and the Libertarian shipowner Sebastián Pareja , the first candidate for provincial deputy challenged the Buenos Aires government's explanation for dismissing the 24 police officers, some of whom held senior positions in the force, as reported by Clarín on Wednesday. In La Plata, it had been explained that the exonerated officers are suspected of being part of a "conspiratorial action" and of operating for Bondarenko from the Ministry's offices located on 53rd Street, a few meters from the Bosque de La Plata.

Following an anonymous tip, raids on the headquarters and other branches of the Ecological Police Directorate yielded LLA letterheads and even wallpapers with images of the "Lion," which identifies Javier Mile i. Computers and other items linking them to the provincial libertarians were seized.

But this Thursday, the retired police chief did not deny the existence of a barbecue with his fellow officers, but he denied having conspired against the Kicillof administration. "The most humiliating thing is that they line them up, ask for their weapons, and take away their ID as if they were criminals ," he asserted, his voice breaking with emotion.

"It just so happens that just one week after that barbecue, they named me as their candidate. This is the best example of what Kicillof is doing to the Provincial Police. It's been a witch hunt for years," he said, recalling that "the exact same thing happened" when a salary claim was filed with the force. "There are many police officers out of the force because of that protest," Bondarenko said minutes after touring the situation room at the Gelly y Obes ministerial headquarters.

The candidate was accompanied by Pareja , who defended his candidacy from attacks by trolls referencing Santiago Caputo , who during the week recalled the former police officer's ties with Congressman Emilio Monzó and a sector of the Radical Party.

Both the head of the Buenos Aires Police Department and the Minister of Security demanded that Kicillof reconsider his decision and order the 24 dismissed individuals to return to the Buenos Aires Police.

It was in this context that Bullrich, bluntly, took aim at Kicillof. "In addition to being useless, he's a person who hates the police and is on the side of criminals. That's my interpretation of the incident. Firing 24 police officers because they share a friendship with a candidate... They (the Fuerza Patria party) aren't capable of putting a police officer forward as a candidate," she added.

The minister had postponed the meeting for half an hour because she made a surprise visit to the Casa Rosada in the afternoon. Although she spent almost an hour in the Martín Fierro Room, where Santiago Caputo has his offices, the advisor's entourage denied that he had met with the official. Part of the communications team that reports to spokesperson Manuel Adorni also works in that area. At press time, the government palace estimated that the minister had agreed on a communications strategy for a full-blown campaign meeting with one of the Violeta Party's most representative candidates in the upcoming provincial elections.