After the rejection by the federal judge in Rawson, the Chubut Ombudsman’s Office filed an appeal in the amparo appeal against the increases in the gas rate. “The removal of energy subsidies is going to be very shocking,” warned the head of the organization, Claudia Bard.
“The rejection had to do with legitimacy, an issue that we knew beforehand, because there is a court ruling that says that the Provincial Ombudsman’s Offices cannot attack national legislation,” explained the lawyer.
In any case, he indicated that they raised the appeal, arguing that there is no Ombudsman designated at the national level, so users would be left unprotected. Now the Federal Chamber of Comodoro Rivadavia must resolve.
The presentation was based on the cases of around 1,000 users throughout the province, who received a strong impact on their gas bills.
The decision of the federal judge in Rawson was different from that adopted by his colleagues in Caleta Olivia and Río Gallego, where the magistrates of those jurisdictions did accept the protection presented by the State Prosecutor’s Office of Santa Cruz, ordering that the increases be suspended. , which in April had exceeded 600% and set a limit of 300%.
“This depends on the criteria of each judge, Rawson’s was based on legitimacy and in Santa Cruz they did not mention that issue. The criteria that Judge Sastre applied could be extended to any provincial body, not just the Ombudsman’s Office,” said the official, who is now awaiting the resolution of the Federal Chamber.
On the other hand, Bard referred to the meeting held by Ombudsmen from all over the country with the Secretary of Energy of the Nation, Eduardo Rodríguez Chirillo.
The defender referred to statements by Rodríguez Chirillo, who stated that because it has a high subsidy component, energy ends up being wasted.
“Just because it is the most subsidized region does not mean that we pay less, due to the high demand we have in winter, which means we do not pay for cheap gas,” Bard clarified. They consider that the more subsidy there is, the greater the wasteful consumption and they propose the logic that the more expensive it is, the less unnecessary consumption will be.”
Bard acknowledged that the group of defenders does not have the tools to stop these attacks on rates, since “the same criteria that Judge Rawson applied would be applied to all of us. “We are going to continue resorting to dialogue with officials, in initiatives like this one, promoted by national deputy Eugenia Alianello, but we cannot force anyone to make decisions.”
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