Close to the police and navy life, he has a various profile, together with being a neurosurgeon, lawyer, and karateka.
The aggressions he suffered whereas making an attempt to quell a bus drivers’ strike put the Security Minister of the province of Buenos Aires on the middle of all of the entrance pages in Argentina on April 3.
But, past the incident, the official’s title and infrequently combative profile has regained power as one of many attainable presidential pre-candidates of the ruling get together for the 2023 elections.
At 61, Berni’s title appeared as a attainable renewal of Peronism in a normally problematic discipline, the struggle towards crime.
A evaluate of Berni’s curriculum is spectacular.
Besides being a surgeon, he’s a lawyer and karate coach.
His proximity to navy life – he joined the Army as a physician and earned the rank of lieutenant colonel – gave him different curious expertise, similar to being an skilled in ways and technique, a parachutist, a tactical diver, and even a mountaineer.
Although born within the province of Buenos Aires, Berni started his profession very near Néstor Kirchner (2003-2007), lengthy earlier than he grew to become President.
Berni had come to the province of Santa Cruz as a navy physician.
Little by little, he grew to become politically nearer to the political building of Kirchner and his spouse, the then National Congresswoman Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (2007-2015).
Berni climbed into nationwide politics hand in hand with the Kirchners.
When Néstor Kirchner grew to become President, Berni was appointed Director of Critical Assistance and Undersecretary of Territorial Approach throughout the Ministry of Social Development, which was within the palms of the President’s sister, Alicia Kirchner.
Those positions allowed him to strengthen what would change into considered one of his distinctive traits: the style for showing personally in locations the place there are conflicts.
“Showing his face,” as Berni himself says at any time when he can.
In this context, he was one of many Government’s negotiators through the occupation of the Parque Indoamericano, one of the necessary inexperienced areas in Buenos Aires, which in 2010 had been occupied by some 1,500 households.
His most related place got here in 2012, when then-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner appointed him Secretary of Security, being in command of safety insurance policies for the entire nation.
Since then, he started cultivating a harder profile within the struggle towards crime and is much less in tune with the discourses towards repression from progressivism and academia sectors.
During these years, the nickname Super Berni was born, ironing with the concept the Security Secretary may struggle crime in all places.
This profile earned him good dividends in polls amongst Peronists and non-Peronists within the province of Buenos Aires, the most important constituency within the nation.
It made him a reputation that was once used as an electoral various in areas the place different Peronist candidates weren’t widespread.
Berni performed a distinguished position which led him to announce his intention to change into governor of the province.
However, he lastly selected to help the candidacy of Axel Kicillof, who would find yourself being elected and who appointed him Minister of Security of the province of Buenos Aires, his present place.
The Argentine media all the time assured that, in each political transfer, Berni had the help of Cristina Fernández, whom he nonetheless considers his undisputed chief.
His solely questioning of the previous President was linked to her selection of Alberto Fernández as the top of the ticket that took him to the Casa Rosada.
Berni’s criticism of Alberto Fernández was additionally fixed, demonstrating his loyalty to Cristina within the inside battle throughout the Argentine Government.
Before drug trafficking and crime have been his principal enemies, Berni discovered within the coronavirus the adversary that will catapult him.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, he headed numerous police operations to struggle crime through the financial disaster that mobility restrictions had generated.
In this context, Berni started to disseminate promotional spots of the work of the Buenos Aires safety forces, all the time below the brand new model title: FBA (Fuerza Buenos Aires).
The movies all the time present him main raids and police operations, usually with bulletproof vests or Buenos Aires safety forces uniforms.
Despite that, he additionally clashed with the police of the province of Buenos Aires, a drive with extra troops than many different nationwide armies in South America.
In 2020, the Buenos Aires police demand for wage will increase led to police pickets in a number of factors of the province, together with the outskirts of the Olivos presidential residence.
While the nationwide Government needed to assume the issue, the law enforcement officials accused Berni of ignoring their requests.
Berni additionally needed to face different controversial instances, such because the disappearance of younger Facundo Astudillo Castro, who was discovered useless after being lacking for 4 months after being detained by the Buenos Aires Police for allegedly violating the quarantine.
Police officers of the province have been investigated for the younger man’s demise, though the case was not closed three years after the episode.
In the final months, Berni has flirted increasingly explicitly with the concept of being a presidential candidate in 2023 throughout the framework of a Frente de Todos that has slowly superior in defining its candidates for the August primaries.
Since 2022, he has already signed his content material in networks with the model Peronismo 2023, which even has a web site the place militants can be a part of his motion.
Berni seemed in the direction of 2023, all the time with forceful phrases.
“He who does not have aspirations cannot dedicate himself to politics”, he assured in mid-2022 when he was consulted in an interview with Argentine streamer Tomás Rebord.
He additionally clarified that politics “cannot be taken as a game” and guaranteed that it’s “a responsibility and a vocation.”
Berni’s self-confidence just isn’t new.
In 2020, interviewed on the Argentine channel América, Berni confirmed that his political aspirations don’t have any ceiling:
“I aspire to be Secretary General of the United Nations.”
With info from Sputnik