Argentina's government has announced tighter new rules for the country's airspace, including a measure that could let the air force shoot down planes suspected of illegal activities.
The rules include expanded radar coverage aimed at detecting and deterring drug and flights.
Opponents have jumped on the protocol for potentially shooting down unresponsive planes, saying it amounts to a death sentence. But Security Secretary Eugenio Burzaco said yesterday that would only be a last resort.
New President Mauricio Macri has vowed to crack down on drug trafficking and Burzaco says there were some 400 irregular flights into the country last year.
The fatal shoot-down of a missionary plane in Peru in 2001 led that country to suspend a similar policy until last year.
