Victoria Tolosa Paz's decision to terminate 100,000 beneficiaries of social plans deepened the offensive of the
leftist piqueteros
who, starting this Wednesday at four in the afternoon, camped in front of the headquarters of the Ministry of Social Development, where they will spend the night in rejection of this measure by the minister, which thus reduces the register of people who receive the Empower Work.
Thousands of protesters from Unidad Piquetera, led by the representatives of Polo Obrero and Libres del Sur,
Eduardo Belliboni
and
Silvia Saravia
, took up positions in front of Desarrollo Social, blocking the entire line of 9 de Julio, including the Metrobus that runs along it, and the main intersections, such as Belgrano and Independencia avenues.
The same method of protest had been implemented last year at least five times.
As soon as Tolosa Paz's criticism arose, in an interview with FM Delta in the morning,
Belliboni came out to reply to him, before the march
.
"Extortion is 99% inflation, it is not sending food to soup kitchens, it is lowering more than 100,000 social benefits, it is adjusting those who do not have a job," the PO reference tweeted.
And he compared it with the social policy of the Cambiemos government.
"
So similar to Carolina (Stanley) and macrismo that they are going to offer you a position with (Patricia) Bullrich or (Javier) Milei
," he snapped.
Saravia expressed himself along the same lines, also on Twitter.
"People, and especially children, eat what they can, not what they should, which is why there is malnutrition in all the provinces of the country. But Minister Tolosa Paz is campaigning instead of worrying about this. More and more similar to Stanley.
The Fund commands, Toulouse condemns
," he wrote.
Piquetero march to the Ministry of Social Development. Camp for an indeterminate period. Photo: Emmanuel Fernández.
The mobilization, as always, had
representatives of the Piquetera Unit
, among which the PO and Libres del Sur stood out, but there was also a presence of the MST, among other leftist groups.
Around 8:00 p.m., the piquetero table made the decision to
extend the camp for the whole night
and until Thursday morning, when they will evaluate how to continue.
In the middle of a hot day,
the tents were being distributed on 9 de Julio, which included the Metrobus, was paralyzed
.
The traffic was chaos.
Until the night it had not been precisely defined if the claim was going to continue throughout Thursday, although it was not ruled out that this was the case.
In the afternoon,
Tolosa Paz apologized to those who saw their activities interrupted by the pickets
.
"We apologize to the citizens for all the impediments they have, but we are firm in the decision not to register more in Potenciar Trabajo," she said.
The background of the fight between Social Development and the piqueteros has to do, once again, with the star program of the ministry,
Potenciar Trabajo, which receives more than 1.2 million beneficiaries and has an annual budget projected at $590,000 million
.
During January alone, together with the Alimentar Card, they represented disbursements of $2.7 billion per day.
In January
Clarín
anticipated the withdrawal of almost 160,000 social plans due to different irregularities that the ministry had warned from an audit ordered by the AFIP.
Shortly after it was confirmed that 154,441 beneficiaries were suspended until they registered.
A little more than 50,000 did so, so approximately 100,000 are the ones who will stop receiving the Potenciar Trabajo definitively as of March.
The credit of Potenciar Trabajo is equivalent to
half the Minimum Vital and Mobile Salary
.
Currently, there are about
$33,870 per month
that are paid to those who complete four-hour tasks, Monday through Friday.
However, for the most part, this consideration does not exist.
The picketers encamp for an indefinite period until they are received by Minister Victoria Tolosa Paz. Photo: Emmanuel Fernández.
The short circuits between the government and the piqueteros were even greater when, in another report in this newspaper, it became known that the leftist piqueteros, through plans, collect around $10,000 million per month.
Although it is a significant number, the figure is less than that received by piquetero groups allied to the Government, such as the Evita Movement or Somos Barrios de Pie.
Evita is led by
Emilio Pérsico, a piquetero leader who is simultaneously the Secretary of Social Economy
and from there he manages the onerous box of Empowering Work.
For this reason, from the opposition they do not hesitate to state that he "is on both sides of the counter."
Somos Barrios de Pie, meanwhile, is led by Daniel Menéndez, also a piquetero leader, who is also undersecretary for Integration and Training Policies in the Ministry of Social Development.
The crosses between leftist piqueteros and the Government have been taking place since before the assumption of Tolosa Paz, last October.
Already in the administrations of Juan Zabaleta and Daniel Arroyo, the level of conflict had increased, largely motivating the departures of both from office.
look too
Traffic chaos due to the total cut off of picketers on Avenida 9 de Julio: they announce that they will camp all night
Before the camp, Victoria Tolosa Paz confirmed the loss of 100,000 plans and crossed the social movements: "We are not the ministry of the piqueteros"
