Crowd marches against poverty in Buenos Aires
Tens of thousands of people, members of left-wing social organisations, converged Thursday in the centre of Buenos Aires to demand from the Argentine government greater assistance to popular kitchens and an increase in subsidies in a country with inflation that is close to 60% per year.
The groups that make up the Piquetera Unit marched from the southern, northern and western outskirts of the capital in columns of protesters that crossed the entire city, before stationing themselves in front of the Ministry of Social Development.
"This is a food-producing country, we produce for 400 million people and here we are 47 million. It cannot be that there are families that today cannot put a decent plate of food on their table," Silvia Saravia, coordinator, said.
Between January and April, accumulated inflation was 23.1% and reached 58% in the last 12 months, while the category of food and non-alcoholic beverages showed an increase of 62%.
The left-wing organisations demand an increase in the amount of subsidy and financial aid to popular and school kitchens delivered by the centre-left Peronist government of Alberto Fernández.
Poverty in Argentina is 37%, according to the state Statistics Institute.
