invited, he gave a speech with his proposals. The legislators swiftly passed amendments to the penal laws as requested, which was later criticized as simply pandering to public opinion and introducing unsystematic changes for media effect only. Finally, Axel Blumberg himself was somehow forgotten by public opinion, and the issue became increasingly politicized. As the wave of kidnappings abated, however, media focus shifted elsewhere. Blumberg's association with traditional right-wing middle class ideology, coupled with his demands and denunciations, have caused him to become unpopular in the eyes of many Argentines. On one occasion he commented that human rights organizations support criminals' human rights, yet they had not supported him in his crusade. This complaint was not well received. When he attended a support demonstration for the people killed in the fire of the República Cromagnon disco, he found a hostile reception, including shouts accusing him of being "a Nazi and a fascist". A demonstration organized by Blumberg on March 23, 2005, was only attended by about one thousand people. Blumberg became a political figure as a result of his campaign. He has been courted by Mauricio Macri of the centre-right Commitment to Change party, possibly as a candidate to be governor of Buenos Aires Province for the PRO alliance. Though he presented himself as an engineer, doubts arose in June 2007 about the validity of his degree. and he finally admitted to holding no university title. The march on Plaza de Mayo Blumberg led a new march on August 31, 2006, at the Plaza de Mayo. While the organizers estimated an attendance of 300,000 people, the media and police estimates ranged from 35,000 to 60,000, mostly middle-class residents of Buenos Aires. Although Blumberg explicitly stated that march did not a political end, he was accompanied by Mauricio Macri and Ricardo López Murphy, among other right-wing political leaders, as well as by a group of opposition piqueteros led by Raúl Castells. Blumberg repeated his demands of harder penal laws and lowering the age of criminal responsibility, and called for the rejection of the Argentine Penal Code reform project. The march was denounced by members of the left as part of Blumberg's political campaign and as an excuse for right-wing demands. Government official and piquetero leader Luis D'Elía organized a "counter-march" and accused Blumberg of "using the pain of his son's death as a step" for political advance. He also noted the