“Of course, most of those who charge a plan doesn’t want to work. Their job is to go out and block the streets and bother the people who really work. It cannot be that a camp like the one the other day on July 9 hinders the entire city. None of those who were camping asked for work, but rather the increase in the plan, “he accused. Margarita Barrientoss, founder of the soup kitchen The Piletons that was close to the management of the former president Mauricio Macri.
“The soup kitchens They don’t receive help like they used to, donations dropped, today it costs us a lot to maintain Los Piletones and the Cañuelas corral. And we feed 3,400 people in Los Piletones and 250 families who come from different neighborhoods in Cañuelas,” claimed Barrientos, who managed to keep his dining rooms open with the support of individuals and some companies.
“80% of the money that comes to us is private, we receive donations And with that we support ourselves, and we transfer the food from Buenos Aires to the Santiago del Estero dining room, because we don’t receive anything from the province. This was always the same, it did not change with the governments, ”explained the popular referent, who marked her anger at the handling of aid from the State.
“The government of the Kirchners it is where the plans began to come from, other governments were maintaining it but they should no longer maintain anyone’s plans but rather give people work. Because if they don’t use people who really need it for the personal benefit of others,” he said.
The Unemployed Heads of Household Plan was created by decree during the presidency of Eduardo Duhalde: then, an economic benefit of $150 for the unemployed with dependent children under the age of 18, or the disabled of any age. Already then, it reached two million people. In 2012, according to the Social Debt Observatory of the Argentine Catholic University (UCA), approximately 22 million people receiving social assistance of some kind.
However, despite the fact that the amount of social plans has grown significantly in the last 20 years, the poverty continues to be a problem that does not seem to have a close solution: poverty reached 37.7% and affected 16.8 million Argentines in 2021. The most vulnerable sectors of the population register a family income of just $20,663 pesos per month, while the basic food basket climbed to $31,834.
“The true humble people are the ones who work the most, and I say this because I travel through many provinces and listen where the need is immense. They do not make cuts to ask for an increase in plans, but rather they work. It would be good if the money from the plans is used to open micro-enterprises where people are taught trades”, requested Barrientos in tune with a sector of Albertism and a good part of the opposition.
“People should ask for work, not plans. But the mothers and fathers of now who are young they got used to not working and collect good plans, from this the creatures learn”, closed the founder of The Piletons in opposition to the social movements that in recent weeks have blocked Avenida 9 de Julio and other accesses.
This Monday, the social movements grouped in Piquetero Unit will meet again with the Minister of Social Development, John Zabaletaafter the fourth intermission defined last Thursday: if there is no agreement, the camps will resume from Wednesday for 72 hours.
