This Wednesday, an INDEC report announced that poverty in Argentina rose to 41.7% by the end of 2023, affecting 19.5 million people. Meanwhile, in the suburbs the index reached 45.5%.
With these numbers, the percentage of households below the poverty line (PL) reached 31.8%. And within this group, 8.7% of households are distinguished below the indigence line (LI), which includes 11.9% of people.
Compared to the first half of 2023, the incidence of poverty registered an increase in both households and individuals, of 2.2 and 1.6 percentage points, respectively. While in the case of indigence, it showed an increase of 1.9 points in households and 2.6 in individuals.
In the context of a general increase in poverty throughout the country, Héctor “Toty” Flores, social leader and founder of the La Juanita Cooperative, lamented in Chain 3 the country’s situation and blamed politics, maintaining that “it has not had a proposal to get out of this and used poverty as a tool for building power.”
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Flores shared his personal experience and talked about how the concept of work changed “drastically” in Argentina from his youth until today. Back then, he commented that there was “secure and abundant” work in large urban centers, while now there is “widespread unemployment” and those who have jobs are not guaranteed to be above the poverty level.
He criticized the current system and the fear established that comes from politics, especially in campaigns, saying that by voting for a certain candidate they will make you lose the little you have.
That is why Flores judged the role of politics in the perpetuation of poverty, arguing that politicians have taken advantage of the fear and dependence of poor people to consolidate and strengthen their power.
And he added: “This way of instilling fear about what you are going to lose has been established in Argentina and that blocks the possibility of thinking about the future.”
Finally, he deeply regretted that “more than half of the poor are children.” “It’s terrible,” she said.
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“Always Together” interview.
