The Argentine government confirmed that 5,000 tonnes of food was stored in state warehouses, but soup kitchens complain that the Ministry of Human Resources has not provided any food aid since President Javier Milley took office last December.
The information was first published on Wednesday by the news site El Destape, which added that much of the food was leftover from President Alberto Fernández's government and was close to its expiration date – meaning it was more than six months old – a claim denied by presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni.
In poor areas across the country, many people rely on soup kitchens.comedian To eat.
Shortly after President Milley took office, the Ministry of Human Resources suspended food deliveries to soup kitchens, claiming it had audited the organizations and found fraud. The ministry said half of Argentina's 40,000 registered soup kitchens do not exist. However, judicial authorities have not ordered any searches or inspections, and the claim has not been proven.
Social leaders have called for the food distribution to be resumed while the government investigates the allegations. Some of the soup kitchens are run by social movements opposed to Milley's government. They say the decision to stop aid is an attack on them.
Evangelical church organizations and tourism workers' unions have continued to receive food for soup kitchens following the agreement with the Milley government.
“I feel angry and helpless,” said Viviana Rodriguez, who runs a soup kitchen in the low-income neighborhood of Villa 31. Herald Milley's soup kitchen hasn't received any food since she took office, and due to a lack of funds, the traditional potluck on May 25 will be a “bare bones stew.”
“They know that there are people who have nothing to eat, and they let the food rot,” she added.This week, the Social Debt Observatory at Argentina's Catholic University released a report stating that 55% of Argentines will be poor and 18% will live in extreme poverty in the first quarter of 2024, meaning that their monthly income falls below the combined total of the basic goods basket and the basic food basket, respectively.
A survey by the Córdoba Grocery Center's statistics department found that 18% of people said their family ran out of food at some point in April 2024. “26% of families said that at some point their family felt hungry but didn't eat, and 45% said some or all members of their family stopped eating breakfast, lunch, tea or dinner,” said Vanesa Ruiz, vice president of the grocery center. Herald.
Presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni told a press conference on Friday that the food was being stored in two warehouses, in Tafi del Valle, in the northern province of Tucuman, and Villa Martelli, in Buenos Aires province.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Human Resource Development said: Herald The spokesman said the stockpiled food was meant to be used in disasters and emergencies. “It is a lie to say that the food is going bad,” he added. “The food stockpiles are non-perishable items such as rice, milk, noodles, mate tea and oil.”
Juan Grabois, a social leader in Patria Grande and former presidential candidate, had previously complained to Human Development Minister Sandra Petovello about the lack of food deliveries to soup kitchens. In a FridayX post, Grabois announced that he was extending the deadline for his complaint, based on information uncovered by El Destape.
Cintia Avila, who runs the Olas Poderosas (Mighty Pots) soup kitchen in the low-income neighbourhood of Rio Cuarto in Córdoba state, called the HRD ministry's decision “horrifying”.
“There are over 10 million people who depend on this food,” she said. “When the food spoils, we go hungry because of the narrow-mindedness and hatred towards the poor. How far will this government go in terms of hatred and dehumanization?”
