Bariloche Mayor Omar Goye suspended by City Council over lootings

Bariloche Mayor Omar Goye was suspended from his position today by the City council, being held responsible for the supermarket lootings that took place on December 20 last year.

The decision was made in a council meeting held this morning, with a unanimous vote. The eleven council members stated that Goye was “incapable” of doing his job, highlighting a number of irregularities in his first year in the position.

Yesterday, the mayor affirmed that he “will not be a scapegoat” for the incidents of looting and rejected the pressure from Río Negro Governor Alberto Weretilneck and Senate Majority Leader Miguel Angel Pichetto for him to resign.

Goye stands accused of having been an accomplice to the looting by making a 92,000-peso payment to the People’s Organizations Work Co-Operative, which has been heavily linked to the looting. Consequently, the mayor was accused of “ineptitude.”