Court orders Milei government to distribute tons of stored food

Argentine federal judge Sebastián Casanello ordered this Monday (27) that Javier Milei's government provide details about the tons of food stored in different warehouses in the country and present, within 72 hours, a plan to distribute the supplies.

Last week, Casa Rosada recognized the existence of 5 thousand tons of food, with different expiration dates, stored, despite the country's serious economic crisis.

At the time, the spokesperson for the Argentine presidency, Manuel Adorni, said that the food was purchased by the previous government and justified the delay with the audit that the administration carries out in community cafeterias that received help from the Executive.

According to him, the food would be distributed. This Monday (27), however, Adorni stated that the Milei government appealed the decision.

A CNN the Ministry of Human Capital, which carries out the audits, said that it has already filed an appeal in court against the determination.

“We consider that this is not a question of a judicial nature, but rather a definition of public policy and justice cannot interfere”, said the spokesperson, stating that “food is reserved in preventive ways for emergencies and catastrophes”.

He guaranteed that of the 5 thousand tons: 3.1 thousand tons are of yerba mate, to make Argentine chimarrão, and defended Milei's policy of cutting food shipments to soup kitchens. According to him, most of these places that received government aid did not exist or said they served more people than they actually did.

“There is not a single food under our care at risk of expiring, because we are controlling it”, he attested.

The stockpiling of thousands of tons of food in a context of accumulated annual inflation of almost 300% and 55% of the population in poverty, according to the latest data from the Social Debt Observatory of the Catholic University of Argentina, has generated criticism, including from the church.

“I can't understand the reasons why they are stored, but I think that in a time of food emergency, this should lead us to reflect. They have to be delivered quickly,” said the president of the Argentine Episcopal Conference, Monsignor Oscar Ojea, in a video.

In addition to the priest's criticism, there were also questions about Javier Milei's response to a question about Argentines who are unable to make their salaries last until the end of the month.

“If people didn't arrive at the end of the month, they would be dying in the streets and that's false,” he said, reiterating when asked again: “If they didn't arrive at the end of the month, they would already have died.”