In the midst of the scandal over food not distributed by the Ministry of Human Capital of the Nation and the complaints of dining rooms of picket organizations that received funds from the national State, but did not function, in the city of Córdoba, the capital municipality recognized that it has registered 2,600 “community spaces” that receive state assistance.
Financial assistance comes from the capital municipality, but also from the Ministry of Social Development and Employment Promotion of the Province.
In the municipality’s Social Development Secretariat, led by Raúl La Cava, they do not talk about “soup kitchens” as they are called nationally, but rather about “community spaces.”
They are centers that provide food to the most needy sectors of the Capital, but also other assistance, such as school reinforcement and employment training, for example.
The capital municipality delivers a monthly contribution of 100 thousand pesos per month to each of these community centers. They are about 260 million pesos per month. Although disbursements are sometimes delayed, they are admitted to the municipality.
Assistance is not in cash. It is done through the Active Card (from Banco de Córdoba), with which the representative of each community space acquires the food or other elements they need for it to function.
La Cava, who held the same position in the four years of Martín Llaryora’s administration as mayor, explained that assistance does not have a fixed budget.
“Assistance to the soup kitchens in the Capital started as a reinforcement to that provided by the Nation and the Province. The demand was growing and tripled in the last six months, when the new national government cut off the delivery of food,” said the mayor’s management official Daniel Passerini.
For its part, the Ministry of Development and Employment Promotion of the Province, led by Laura Jure, also provides assistance to canteens in the Capital.
There are 340 who receive financial aid of 200 thousand pesos per month, which requires the Province to disburse 68 million pesos per month.
In addition, the provincial portfolio assists another 215 soup kitchens in the Capital with food modules, which contain nine products: oil, flour, noodles, polenta, lentils, tomato puree, rice, sugar. In the last month, milk was added, acquired by the Province, not by the Nation. (More information on page 8).
In this case, the Province’s contribution is 100 thousand pesos, but the food modules are delivered, not the money. There are another 21 million pesos allocated by the Llaryorist management.
The director of Social Emergency, Christian Heredia, explained that food assistance in the interior is done through the municipalities.
Hence, the provincial Social Development portfolio only assists 24 soup kitchens in the interior.
That is, in the Capital, the municipality allocates 260 million pesos to assist the 2,600 community spaces. While the provincial government pays 90 million pesos monthly for soup kitchens or community centers.
Through the neighborhoods
The city of Córdoba has 560 neighborhoods. This means that there are almost five (4.6) dining rooms per neighborhood.
According to the registry maintained by the municipality’s Social Development Secretariat, in December of last year there were 2,271 so-called “community spaces.”
In the last six months, with the libertarian management of Javier Milei, 329 new spaces were added in the Capital, which makes the total of 2,600 that La Cava mentioned.
The Ministry of Social Development of the Province admits that in recent months, they receive about 30 daily requests for assistance from soup kitchens. The increase has to do with the national government’s decision to no longer attend soup kitchens.
Sources from both administrations admit that the general registry is the one that the municipality has of 2,600 community centers, of which, more than 500 also receive assistance from the Province.
These dining rooms, picnic areas or “community spaces” are managed by NGOs – several of them religious – picketing organizations and private residents.
Around 500 kitchens belong to picketing organizations, questioned at the national level. Municipal and provincial officials argue that regardless of the origin of those responsible, both administrations control that they function and fulfill the role for which they receive state assistance.
“There is a lot of talk about the issue due to the controversy at the national level, but we work well with social organizations. It does not matter who is responsible, but rather that they fulfill the role of these community centers,” La Cava clarified.
“In the registry that we have in the municipality there are all the soup kitchens and community centers in the Capital. In some cases, there is double assistance from the Province and the municipality because they are canteens that provide food to more than 100 people per day,” explained La Cava.
Controls
Both the Province and the capital municipality said that there is “cross control” over the operation of the dining rooms. Although last year, during the campaign, opponent Luis Juez denounced clientelism and said that the PJ had transformed Córdoba into La Matanza.
La Cava said that the municipality has “geolocated” the 2,600 community spaces in the Capital, with one or a reference (the majority are women) who signs a sworn declaration and is responsible for the operation and accountability.
Those responsible for purchasing food are also controlled through the use of the Bancor Active Card. “The social assistance teams not only go to the community centers, but they also survey neighborhood residents about their functioning,” explained La Cava.
For his part, Christian Heredia, from the Provincial Social Emergency, stated that they receive about 30 requests for assistance for soup kitchens daily.
The provincial official said that before delivering financial assistance or food modules, social workers from the ministry visit them and approve or reject the request for help.
“The register is updated monthly. There are ups and downs. The controls are crossed. I don’t think there are cases of canteens that receive assistance from the Province or the municipality and are not working. If this happens, they are detected quickly,” argued the Llaryorista official.
