海角大神

Paolo Menghini's t-shirt bears the face of his son, Lucas, a聽victim of one of Argentina's deadliest train accidents, which occurred聽a year ago today.

The crash at Once train station in Buenos Aires killed a total of 51 people, and will be commemorated this evening by the victims'聽families, led by Mr. Menghini. Argentina鈥檚 trains, however, are still聽unsafe.

The crash at Once was not an isolated incident. In the first six聽months of 2012, there were more than 1,200 accidents and 190 deaths on聽Argentina鈥檚 main train lines, according to a government document.

The grieving families blame the current government of Cristina Fern谩ndez de Kirchner for the deaths of their relatives, saying it did聽nothing to improve a system that deteriorated after it was privatized聽in the 1990s.

鈥淭he government is not a bystander,鈥� says Menghini, whose son was 20聽when he died. 鈥淚t stands accused. It knew what could happen and did聽nothing.鈥� Two former government transport secretaries, Ricardo Jaime and Juan Pablo Schiavi, are indicted in the case, but a trial date has聽yet to be set.

Argentina鈥檚 railways were privatized at the beginning of the 1990s,聽when concessions for various routes were auctioned off by Carlos聽Menem鈥檚 administration. The contracts, however, favored the operators聽and made it difficult to enforce sanctions and fines, says Pablo聽Martorelli, president of the Argentine Railway Institute. He believes聽a period of increased state control is forthcoming.

鈥淭he government allowed the companies to manage themselves. They stopped investing, and complaints about safety and security fell on聽deaf ears,鈥� says Sergio Garc铆a, editor of Todo Trenes magazine,聽dedicated to the railway industry.

President Kirchner announced last month the government will invest $1聽billion in the country鈥檚 railways, and will replace the aging trains聽of the Sarmiento line, along which the crash took place, with 400 new聽Chinese wagons. In July, it withdrew the concession held by Trenes de聽Buenos Aires (TBA) to operate the Sarmiento and Mitre lines.

But critics say the moves are belated.

鈥淥nce is the best example of Kirchnerism鈥檚 failure to act,鈥� says聽Leandro Bullor, an analyst at the University of Buenos Aires, using聽the term that refers to Argentina鈥檚 politics since 2003, when N茅stor Kirchner, the President's late husband and predecessor, came to power.

Kirchnerism also allowed years of mismanagement of oil company YPF before renationalizing it last year, Mr. Bullor says. In the case of the railways, despite government spending on the network, politicians聽are believed to have allowed a handful of businessmen to misappropriate聽substantial state subsidies while ignoring damning safety reports.聽Alleged corruption has been at the heart of recent protests against聽Kirchner.

Since 1991, Argentina鈥檚 usable railway network has dropped by 9,300聽miles to around 11,800 miles today. Only 3,700 miles are considered safe for聽passengers, who are packed into carriages. Inter-city journeys聽are slow: It takes 20 hours to travel the nearly 500 miles from C贸rdoba to Buenos Aires.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not enough to buy new trains,鈥� says Mr. Garc铆a. 鈥淭he tracks are聽decrepit. There needs to be a long-term plan.鈥�

The current government has repeatedly failed to mention Once as it seeks to absolve itself of responsibility for the crash, victims' families say. Kirchner only mentioned the crash once over the course of 11 months, in addition to offering her condolences to the victims鈥� families last聽night.

Her supporters pin the blame on former President Menem, but he is an聽overused scapegoat for Argentina鈥檚 current problems, says Bullor, the聽analyst.

鈥淔ifty-one people died because of this government鈥檚 indolence,鈥� saysPaolo Menghini. 鈥淭here needs to be a profound change since, as things stand, the tragedy of Once could repeat itself tomorrow.鈥�