But, beyond the incident, the official’s name and often combative profile has regained strength as one of the possible presidential pre-candidates of the ruling party for the 2023 elections.
At 61, Berni’s name appeared as a possible renewal of Peronism in a usually problematic field, the fight against crime.
A review of Berni’s curriculum is impressive.
Besides being a surgeon, he is a lawyer and karate trainer.
His proximity to military life – he joined the Army as a doctor and earned the rank of lieutenant colonel – gave him other curious skills, such as being an expert in tactics and strategy, a parachutist, a tactical diver, and even a mountaineer.
Although born in the province of Buenos Aires, Berni began his career very close to Néstor Kirchner (2003-2007), long before he became President.
Berni had come to the province of Santa Cruz as a military doctor.
Little by little, he became politically closer to the political construction of Kirchner and his wife, the then National Congresswoman Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (2007-2015).
Berni climbed into national politics hand in hand with the Kirchners.
When Néstor Kirchner became President, Berni was appointed Director of Critical Assistance and Undersecretary of Territorial Approach within the Ministry of Social Development, which was in the hands of the President’s sister, Alicia Kirchner.
Those positions allowed him to reinforce what would become one of his distinctive traits: the taste for appearing personally in places where there are conflicts.
“Showing his face,” as Berni himself says whenever he can.
In this context, he was one of the Government’s negotiators during the occupation of the Parque Indoamericano, one of the most important green spaces in Buenos Aires, which in 2010 had been occupied by some 1,500 families.
His most relevant position came in 2012, when then-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner appointed him Secretary of Security, being in charge of security policies for the whole country.
Since then, he began cultivating a tougher profile in the fight against crime and is less in tune with the discourses against repression from progressivism and academia sectors.
During those years, the nickname Super Berni was born, ironing with the idea that the Security Secretary could fight crime everywhere.
This profile earned him good dividends in polls among Peronists and non-Peronists in the province of Buenos Aires, the largest constituency in the country.
It made him a name that used to be used as an electoral alternative in areas where other Peronist candidates were not popular.
Berni played a prominent role which led him to announce his intention to become governor of the province.
However, he finally chose to support the candidacy of Axel Kicillof, who would end up being elected and who appointed him Minister of Security of the province of Buenos Aires, his current position.
The Argentine media always assured that, in every political move, Berni had the support of Cristina Fernández, whom he still considers his undisputed leader.
His only questioning of the former President was linked to her choice of Alberto Fernández as the head of the ticket that took him to the Casa Rosada.
Berni’s criticism of Alberto Fernández was also constant, demonstrating his loyalty to Cristina in the internal struggle within the Argentine Government.
Before drug trafficking and crime were his main enemies, Berni found in the coronavirus the adversary that would catapult him.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, he headed countless police operations to fight crime during the economic crisis that mobility restrictions had generated.
In this context, Berni began to disseminate promotional spots of the work of the Buenos Aires security forces, always under the new brand name: FBA (Fuerza Buenos Aires).
The videos always show him leading raids and police operations, often with bulletproof vests or Buenos Aires security forces uniforms.
Despite that, he also clashed with the police of the province of Buenos Aires, a force with more troops than many other national armies in South America.
In 2020, the Buenos Aires police demand for salary increases led to police pickets in several points of the province, including the outskirts of the Olivos presidential residence.
While the national Government had to assume the problem, the police officers accused Berni of ignoring their requests.
Berni also had to face other controversial cases, such as the disappearance of young Facundo Astudillo Castro, who was found dead after being missing for four months after being detained by the Buenos Aires Police for allegedly violating the quarantine.
Police officers of the province were investigated for the young man’s death, although the case was not closed three years after the episode.
In the last months, Berni has flirted more and more explicitly with the idea of being a presidential candidate in 2023 within the framework of a Frente de Todos that has slowly advanced in defining its candidates for the August primaries.
Since 2022, he has already signed his content in networks with the brand Peronismo 2023, which even has a website where militants can join his movement.
Berni looked towards 2023, always 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 also clarified that politics “cannot be taken as a game” and assured that it is “a responsibility and a vocation.”
Berni’s self-confidence is not new.
In 2020, interviewed on the Argentine channel América, Berni showed that his political aspirations have no ceiling:
“I aspire to be Secretary General of the United Nations.”
With information from Sputnik