SUNS4369 Monday 8 February 1999

Argentina: Protesters demand 50,000 kgs of food and 5,000 jobs



Buenos Aires, Feb 3 (IPS/Marcela Valente) -- Protests by pensioners, the unemployed and poor families demanding donations of 50,000 kilos of food a month and 5,000 jobs took place in several cities in Argentina
without incidents, despite government warnings that the organisers were "inciting crime."

Demonstrators carrying enormous banners reading, simply, "Hunger" marched through the streets Tuesday, convoked by the leftist Combative Classist Current and the Movement of Unemployed and Pensioners.

The government feared a repetition of the looting of supermarkets that occurred in 1989, amidst hyper-inflation and scarcity. At that time, 19 people were killed in police crackdowns.

Secretary of Interior Security Miguel Angel Toma warned Monday that the police would prevent "unpleasant situations," and accused the organisers of the protests of "attacking constitutional order and democratic life."

But Tuesday's demonstrations took place without incidents. The protesters submitted requests to authorities, urged shopkeepers to donate food and demanded employment plans for the jobless.

In Buenos Aires, the government deployed 1,300 police to prevent disturbances, 300 of them staked out in front of supermarkets and equipped with water hoses.

The security measures were ordered after the organisers of the protest sent letters to supermarket owners, urging them to provide food to the needy and thus prevent looting or other disturbances.

In December, groups of demonstrators obtained food donations from supermarkets of the U.S. Wal Mart chain and France's Carrefour. Since then, around 20 similar episodes took place spontaneously or were
organised throughout the country. On several occasions, employees refused to donate food, and protesters sat down inside the stores to eat. Last month, a more highly organised campaign was announced.

But on Tuesday, demonstrators simply marched through downtown streets in several cities asking authorities for jobs, food and higher pensions. In the capital of the northwestern province of Jujuy, protesters accepted donations from a number of grocery stores, and later marched to the provincial Government Ministry to demand employment programmes.

The same thing took place in Rosario, the second largest city in Argentina, several municipalities of the province of Buenos Aires, and the central province of Cordoba.

The Chamber of Supermarkets pointed out Monday that in response to increased demands, stores have been providing food to individuals or humanitarian organisations in recent months. Interior Minister Carlos Corach downplayed the significance of the protests, describing the groups that organised the events as "totally
unrepresentative." But he said he ordered a broad security operation for fear that the groups would "confuse and manipulate people."

Carlos Santillan, leader of the Combative Classist Current, said looting and occupations of supermarkets were not on the organisers' agendas. "Our aim is to demand 50,000 kgs of food a month to ease the hunger, because an in-depth solution, reviving employment, has not been found," he said.

Also participating in the demonstrations were retirees demanding higher pensions. The government calculates the basic monthly basket of goods and services for a typical family at 1,350 pesos (on par with the dollar), while the minimum monthly pension is 150 pesos.

The depreciation of pensions and the healthcare crisis suffered by retirees has driven up the number of poor in this Southern Cone country. Some nine million people - roughly 25 percent of Argentina's population of 35 million - live below the poverty line, according to government statistics.

Thousands of soup kitchens run by the Catholic Church's charity organisations and federal, provincial and municipal government programmes traditionally provide assistance to those in need.

Unlike in 1989, when inflation had soared to four-digit figures and a wave of looting broke out, prices today are stable. But unemployment and under-employment, which affect 12.4 and 13.6 percent of the economically active population, respectively, are now considered the main cause of poverty.