“Malnourished boys and girls are referred to us from healthcare centers, and Since last year we had to ask that they please not refer us anymore, because we cannot cover all the needs. We had to put cases on a waiting list.“. ( Mercedes Depetrispresident of the Conin Santa Fe Foundation).
Poverty, adjustment and a new warning from the IMF
Only a fool could deny that the policies implemented in the Argentina During the last decades they plunged millions of people into poverty, annihilated the currency and generated a level of fatigue and restlessness that was reflected at the polls during 2023.
Only a fool could refute that the adjustment of fiscal accounts was the inevitable destiny for a foolish and corrupt country.
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On repeated occasions, the IMF warned the Argentine government to deepen its support policies for the most vulnerable sectors.
Only a fool could refute that the most vulnerable, the retirees and those who were scratching the possibility of belonging to the middle class; They are the ones who are currently suffering the greatest burden from the drastic measures adopted by Javier Milei since he came to power.
This diagnosis is so obvious that even the International Monetary Fund – which is owed 40 billion dollars in capital and 16 billion in interest – insists with its warnings: “We have been emphasizing the need to increase social assistance to support the poor, ensuring that the burden of adjustment does not fall disproportionately on working families and recommending that authorities make efforts to increase assistance“, the organization’s spokesperson just said, Julie Kozack.
Argentine retirees and the “degenerates of Congress”
Milei has just warned the “degenerates of Congress” that he is not willing to negotiate fiscal balance and that he will veto all laws that undermine this crucial objective for the government.
The “degenerates of Congress” refused to eliminate privileged retirements for former presidents and vice presidents, in a country where the majority of retirees earn pittance and barely manage to survive after a lifetime of work.
At this time, the beneficiaries of these retirements are the former presidents Mauricio Macri (Let’s change), Cristina Fernandez (Front for Victoria, who collects his retirement and Néstor Kirchner’s pension), Adolfo Rodríguez Saá (Justicialist Party) and María Estela Martínez de Perón (Justicialist Party). Alberto Fernandez (Frente de Todos) began the process of his retirement.
Javier Milei: “We have already fired 25 thousand state employees, we are going to fire 50 thousand more”
Javier Milei told the “degenerates of Congress” that he will veto the reforms to the retirement system.
The widows of Fernando de la Rúa (Alianza), Carlos Menem, Marcelo Levingston (de facto president) and the daughter of José María Guido (UCR) also collect pensions. And the former vice presidents join them Gabriela Michetti (Let’s change), Beloved Boudou (Front for Victory) and Julio Cobos (Front for Victory).
But The “degenerates of Congress” also propose that the Argentine State return to the rest of the retirees – those who barely manage to survive – the 8% that was taken from them in January of this year, when inflation was 20%, but the adjustment of their assets barely reached 12%.
The minimum retirement at this time is 206,931 pesos. 8% of that amount is just 16,554 pesos. A ridiculous figure compared to Argentine prices, but a number that would help those who cannot make ends meet.
Would Milei be able to veto this decision by the “degenerates of Congress” and maintain the fiscal balance on the backs of such a vulnerable sector?
In light of his statements, everything indicates yes. However, when the time comes, perhaps the Government will find another way to avoid paying such a political cost.
Father Axel: “Structural poverty is getting stronger and stronger”
“One has the grace of being able to walk and be with people. Not only listen, but see what is happening. And the truth is that people’s nutrition is deteriorating greatly,” said Father Axel Arguinchona, who works in the poorest neighborhoods of Santa Fe for almost 40 years.
And he added: “There are many who get one meal a day. Thank goodness there are still school or community canteens that help a little.”
Father Axel assured that the most serious situations are seen in the youngest children and retirees: “Many have serious problems accessing complete nutrition.”
“I am seeing a very great deterioration with poverty and especially with destitution. It is one thing to see the numbers and another to see the reality. There are many more people who live in destitution, on the street, who go out to look for food in the street,” he noted.
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Father Axel states that children and retirees are among the sectors hardest hit by the crisis.
Although there are people who have a home, “when you enter you see the food problems there are, because they lost their job, because there is not enough. They have a house, but they don’t have what they need to eat, their health and cognitive aspects are deteriorating, especially in the younger ones. The deterioration is very great and is objective. “No one can deny that there is more hunger in the country.”
In almost 40 years of social work, Father Axel witnessed difficult moments, such as the 2001 crisis: “There were temporary situations that were very strong, but in these moments the saddest thing is something that we had begun to see beginning of last year, and people with formal jobs who live poorly. Now, those people are even poorer.
“The problem now is that structural poverty is becoming increasingly stronger, it is entrenching itself very strongly in society and that is really very serious. What is happening is a terrible cancer that, if we do not stop it in time, It’s going to be tragic.”
Earlier this week, on the show Believewhich is issued by AIR, the president of the Conin Foundation in Santa Fe, Mercedes Depetrisassured that the number of malnourished boys and girls referred to them from area hospitals is so great that they work with waiting lists.
Already in September 2022, a Mobile Pediatric Unit of the Conin Foundation was installed for a couple of days in the San Agustín neighborhood to carry out free pediatric check-ups on children in the area.
The results even surprised the doctors: just over 100 children between 0 and 10 years old from this sector of the city showed up. Of the total, 65% of the children suffered from chronic malnutrition, 15% suffered from acute malnutrition and only 20% were properly nourished.
Both Father Axel and the representatives of Conin Santa Fe agree that the current situation is even worse. It is no longer necessary to look for malnourished children in the territory, but referrals arrive from hospitals and health centers.
