It’s 10 a.m. at the start of the week. Calm reigns in the Santa Cecilia district, in Gonzalez Catan, about thirty kilometers southwest of Buenos Aires. Its dirt streets where each step raises a cloud of dust give it a village feel to this precarious neighborhood, built on the edge of a former quarry, part of which has been converted into an open-air landfill.
This is where the Movement of Excluded Workers (MTE), an Argentinian social movement born in 2002 in the midst of the country’s crisis, opened a new community center two years ago, La Tosquera (“the quarry” in Spanish). On the facade of a two-story building made of concrete blocks and corrugated iron, we read the instructions adopted by the movement in capital letters: “Tierra, Techo, Trabajo [“terre, toit, travail”]. »
Adriana Rolon, 42, space coordinator, proudly tours the premises. A small kitchen, where Estefani, Claudia and Noelia are busy, opens onto a common room opening onto a small football field. A week before the start of the school year, around thirty children and teenagers are busy on the first floor. The youngest have fun with board games and drawings, while the older ones take part in a plastic arts workshop.
“Here, we try to provide support at all levels: academic, nutritional, psychological… There is also a program for the treatment of addictions”, explains Adriana. Arrival shortly before the election of the Argentine president, Javier Milei, “at the worst time”she does not forget her beginnings at La Tosquera. “We open at 8:30 a.m. The first day, I was surprised to see a line of kids waiting in front of the door before I arrived. I told my colleagues: “They are super motivated!” »she remembers. “One of them answered me: “It’s not the desire, it’s the hunger.” »
Just a few months ago, the center welcomed nearly 60 children outside of school hours. Despite the crisis and inflation, the MTE of Santa Cecilia managed to distribute around a hundred meals to families in the neighborhood every day, largely thanks to food sent by the State. “Today, we are barely able to cover the 40 places assigned to the center. We feed the children first, breakfast and lunch, and when there is enough food, the adults who work here eat too.”she regrets.
Blocking of roads and streets
Since Javier Milei came to power on December 10, 2023, the situation has deteriorated day by day. Inflation has accelerated to a stony pace for the population following the brutal 51% devaluation of the Argentine peso decided by the government barely two days after the inauguration of the libertarian: an increase of 25.5% in month of December 2023 and another 20.5% in the month of January, to reach 256% over one year. The percentage of the population in poverty increased from 49.5% in December 2023 to 57.4% in January, according to the index established by the Argentine Catholic University, and is expected to increase in February and March.
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