The Army will distribute food in La Matanza, one of the most vulnerable districts in the province of Buenos Aires

After an extensive meeting between the main political authorities of the province of Buenos Aires; the governor Axel Kicillof, the vice governor Veronica Magario and his security minister Sergio Berni; representatives of the ministries of Social Development, Defense and Interior together with the Brigadier General Martín Deimundo Escobal, operational commander of the Armed Forces, and the mayor of La Matanza, Fernando Espinoza; I know jointly coordinated the food aid that will begin to reach the most populous district in the country, and one of the most needy in the Buenos Aires territory. Although some details still need to be polished, the modality to be used will be to deliver trays of hot food prepared in “Centralized kitchens” in squares and other parts of the district.

The central objective, according to the analysis of an official who works daily with the president Alberto Fernández, is to ensure a correct diet in the most vulnerable sectors of society, and fundamentally older adults and children, and a minimum income of money to avoid the need for heads of family who work in the informal or popular economy to break the ban to go out to do changas.

The Police of the province of Buenos Aires will be in charge of the units of the Argentine Army, although the distribution and preparation of food, such as logistics, will be the responsibility of that armed force.

The final stitch was finished this midday when Mayor Espinoza, in front of Magario – predecessor in office – and the Army commandos, presented the layout of the logistics.

As reported from the municipality to Infobae, the “Coordination of the food operation will be carried out, fundamentally, with Social Development of the Nation and the Municipality and with the Ministry of the Interior, since there is experience to do so, because something very similar is done when there are evacuees due to a flood. The Civil Defense and Social Development of the Municipality acts there “.

“We met with Deputy Governor Verónica Magario, and together with the Army and the Ministry of the Interior and Defense to coordinate actions that guarantee food in the most vulnerable places in La Matanza,” said the mayor at the end of the conclave held at the palace. municipal located in the city of San Justo, in front of the cathedral.

From the Ministry of Social Development of the Nation it was assured to Infobae that they will be responsible for transferring the funds to the mayor so that the Espinoza administration acquires the necessary supplies to prepare the food.

Both the option “food bags” and “hot food” are on the table, that will depend on the accessibility of the places and the weather conditions.

As they are still organizing it, the Ministry of Defense does not know exactly the number of men, kitchens, tents and vehicles that will be used. “We are still putting together all the logistics that will be in charge of the brigadier general Deimundo Escobal”, They explained to this medium from the Casa Rosada, which follows minute by minute the evolution of any type of social conflict that could develop in one of the most deprived municipalities of the deep suburbs due to the mandatory restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic .

In the territorial distribution, the Secretariat of Social Development of La Matanza, in charge of Nicolás Fusca, which has 18 branches and which already provides “food safety”, for example, through the area of ​​child and community promotion, in dining rooms and picnic areas. But also with the reinforcement of food bags that began to reach the homes of the most needy; this morning, for example, only in the town of Aldo Bonzi 450 bags were distributed and almost three thousand in González Catán and Gregorio de Laferrere.

The “food mega-operative”, as they call it in private, will be solved, mainly, with national funds through the areas of Defense and Social Development.

A pilot test of what is going to be implemented in La Matanza on a large scale was carried out last weekend in the municipality of Quilmes. The tasks were supervised by Berni, who is also a medical colonel (R). On that occasion, the raw material to prepare the food was provided by the mayor in charge of Mayra Mendoza.

The Army contributed from the cooks to the field kitchens to prepare the food, generally stews with some protein, such as meat or chicken, which it later distributed among the most deprived and vulnerable population in the district.

Perhaps today with the budding coronavirus pandemic and the mandatory quarantine, the activity of the Armed Forces attracts attention; however, these types of tasks have already been carried out during floods in Santa Fe and Entre Ríos.

The concern of Kicillof and the president Alberto Fernández It is focused on this district, not only because of the basic needs of a large part of the population, but also because the inhabitants of the most humble neighborhoods work informally doing changas, today paralyzed by the obligatory “social distancing” provided through the Decree 270/2020.

La Matanza is the largest municipality in the Conurbano, it has an area of ​​325.71 square kilometers and according to the 2010 census its population was 1,775,816 people – it is estimated that today it exceeds two and a half million inhabitants. Due to its population density, this municipality is considered the “fifth province”.

When the urbanization of the 4,228 settlements was approved in cities with more than 10,000 inhabitants throughout the country, it was highlighted that in La Matanza there are 121 popular neighborhoods or emergency settlements, in which about 150 thousand people live and which are located in neighborhoods such as “Aldo Bonzi, Ciudad Evita, Ciudad Madero, González Catán, Gregorio de Laferrere, Isidro Casanova, La Tablada, Rafael Castillo, San Justo, Tapiales, Villa Luzuriaga and Virrey del Pino.

La Matanza is located about 20 kilometers from the geographic center of the City of Buenos Aires.

On January 27th, Arroyo, together with Mayor Espinoza, carried out the inaugural ceremony for the delivery of the 63,000 Alimentar cards, which means a monthly recharge of more than 320 million pesos. The largest number distributed in a single district.

Two reference hospitals dedicated only to the care of coronavirus will also operate in La Matanza. The president himself announced it Alberto Fernández, who last Monday toured the unfinished works of the René Favaloro Hospital -The second is President Néstor Kirchner-, whose works will be completed in a maximum of “two or three months” as he himself announced. In this way, those emergency medical centers that will allow expanding in 560 therapy and hospital beds to prevent the pandemic, one of the main objectives that the Government has at this stage of the fight against Covid-19.

The hospital structure had been presented during 2015 when Cristina Kirchner governed, but neither her government nor Mauricio Macri’s government completed the construction of these two hospitals of great need for the population of La Matanza.