Dario promotes disarmament by reducing the demand for weapons, reducing weapons supply, and improving arms control and regulation. He generates media attention to raise public consciousness about arms proliferation (reducing demand) largely through high-impact symbolic campaigns around specific actions. Dario also campaigns for critical changes in law and public policy, kick-starting public efforts to reduce weapons supply and improve arms control.
In 2004, Darío created the Latin American Institute for Security and Democracy. Darío and his team of five professionals and five volunteers work at the national level to create campaigns and influence public policy. At the same time he strengthened his work with the creation of the Argentine Network for Disarmament, which brings together 15 organizations in Argentina that deal with the issue of safety. The network is an effective means of disseminating his activities and efforts throughout the country.
In one of Dario’s most important awareness-raising campaigns, he brought together families of the victims of violence to propose several peaceful alternatives to the current punitive approach to reduce societal violence (rather then simply increasing sentences and decreasing the age at which minors can be convicted). Darío and these families held two public rallies in front of the house of government. The personal stories of these families and their losses garnered much public attention for the events, attracting significant press coverage. Eventually, the group succeeded in presenting two proposals to the Argentine government that were adopted by the President and will be put into practice in 2007.
Another strikingly symbolic awareness-raising campaign has been Dario’s attempt to get rid of war toys for children. Darío’s campaign, “Cambiemos por la Paz” or “Let’s Change for Peace”, developed in partnership with UNICEF and UNESCO, resulted in 30,000 war toys collected and destroyed in front of the Ministry of Education, with tremendous press coverage. Part of this campaign (involving a partnership between Dario’s organization and Ashoka Fellow Juan Carr’s Red Solidaria) is a toy exchange—trading educational toys for war toys turned in by children in schools across the country. Dario sees working with children as critical to fight a culture in which children are raised to think violence is normal. He has plans for teacher-training programs and curriculum changes to this end.
Other important awareness-raising campaigns include convincing the River Plate Football Team to enter the field carrying a banner with messages against the use of fire arms. Darío also launched the slogan “You have a Fire Arm, You have a Problem”, for which he developed an advertising spot. This phrase was then adopted by the Argentine President as the slogan for the official campaign. All of Dario’s awareness-raising activities have generated national press coverage. Finally, Dario used the scenarios of several violent events involving firearms in schools to develop workshops and discussions in schools throughout the country. These events are run by his organization or one of the fifteen organizations in his network. Dario himself speaks often at conferences and seminars on disarmament in Argentina.
To reduce arms supply and tighten control and regulation, Dario concentrates his efforts on influencing public policy. Because of his reputation as an expert on the issue of disarmament, he was able to speak at a Congressional meeting on the issue of security. With plenty of accompanying media coverage, Dario spoke of the problems caused by firearms in Argentina, and called on the deputies and senators of the Defense and Safety Commission to reform the relevant legislation. In this way, Dario publically held these elected officials accountable for their roles in regulating the activities of the Executive Branch in relation to firearms. Darío followed this up by introducing in Congress (through a politician who supports his work) a proposal for a new law: The National Plan for Disarmament. This law has been approved and was put into practice on March 15, 2007. The law declares “a national emergency” in terms of possession of arms and ammunitions, registered and unregistered, with the objective of disarming citizens in order to diminish crime and accidents. According to the same law, those who turn in their arms voluntarily will receive a monetary reward and those who turn in unregistered firearms will not be penalized. The disarmament plan also declares a prohibition on the replication of arms, and encourages national authorities to generate campaigns aimed at persuading the population to abandon the use of war toys.
Dario is currently advocating for a proposal he has developed to improve the system of arms control at a national level, so that all firearms will be monitored by the state from the moment they are created until they are destroyed. One of Dario’s goals is to introduce legislation to destroy the deposit of arms collected by the government from the public, thereby preventing this supply of arms from ever returning to the market.
One of Dario’s most important insights has been to understand the forces in society that promote arms proliferation—including economic forces. Darío successfully campaigned for the transfer of RENAR from the control of the Ministry of Defense to the Ministry of the Interior. This step has been crucial in order to de-militarize the issue of arms ownership, approaching the issue of firearms under the framework of interior security as opposed to defense. It has also been crucial in removing RENAR from the influence of arms manufacturers, who largely financed the agency when it was controlled by the Ministry of Defense. Darío continues to push for reform of the administrative and financial control of the RENAR. He was consulted on this by the Argentine President, who personally adopted his proposals in the government’s 2007 plan.
In 2005 Dario began to form close partnerships with other Latin American citizen organizations (COs) to strengthen his work and expand across Latin America. He helped to create the Latin American Coalition for the Prevention of Violence (CLAVE), formally formed in Mexico City in 2006. This network is led by an organization created by Darío and Ashoka Fellow Denis Mizne. Thus, a regional actor was created with the capacity to develop a common platform between Latin American governments with regard to firearms and citizen disarmament. As a member of CLAVE, Darío has co-authored, Framework Law as a tool for other countries lacking or wanting to improve legislation regarding firearms control. Darío presented the law before the Latin American Parliament, who committed to address the issue in the next few months.
Knowing that improving public safety is more complex than simply battling arms proliferation, Darío is also addressing police reform and the control on private security. He is currently in conversations with the Congress and the Executive Branch on this issue.