(10 Dec 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Buenos Aires, Argentina – 9 December 2024
1. Various of a poor neighborhood in Buenos Aires
2. A volunteer carries a tray with food to the street to serve outside a soup kitchen
3. Volunteers serving food
4. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Isabel Rocha, 68, retired teacher:
++ PARTIALLY OVERLAID WITH SHOTS 2-5++
"It’s terrible, but I don’t have food today. I don’t come every day, but when the spontaneous need arises, I say: ‘Wow, I don’t have any (money), I don’t have any. I’ve already taken on credit from here and from there.’ Then, I have to come here. They take care of me here. They give me food for the day."
5. Matias Irazoqui, 4, eats lunch at the soup kitchen after attending preschool
6. Volunteer cooking
7. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Laura Gotte, soup kitchen volunteer:
++ SOUNDBITE PARTIALLY OVERLAID WITH SHOTS 6-8 ++
"Since Milei took office, we used to cook 13 pans (100 liters), and now we cook 28, and the food is not enough. The city government sends food for 1,800 rations, and we give out food for 4,000 to 5,000 people Monday, Wednesday, and Friday."
8. Frying chicken hamburgers
9. People walk by the Obelisk monument
10. Display window at a gift shop
11. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Lucia Vera, store owner and university student:
++ PARTIALLY OVERLAID WITH SHOTS 10-12 ++
"I see it positively because he anticipated it. He said that when he assumed power, there would be a difficult period, recession, because there are things to adjust and fix, and I believe that is something that is being seen. But I think that little by little, things will slowly start to improve."
12. Various of Buenos Aires downtown and the Obelisk ++MUTE++
STORYLINE:
On the first anniversary of his administration in Argentina, the far-right president, Javier Milei, managed to pull the South American country out of rampant inflation with a painful austerity plan that has pushed millions into poverty.
Monthly inflation lowered from 25.5% in his first month of government to 2.7% in October, the lowest in the last three years, according to official data.
However, as a downside to his economic plan, poverty surged to reach more than half of the population, and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted, with a projected decline of between 2.5% and 3.2% this year.
Over 66% of children under 14 years of age live in households with incomes below poverty levels.
Key sectors such as industry, construction, and retail trade are facing significant difficulties.
Thousands of people, mostly unemployed and retirees, depend on soup kitchens to make ends meet.
At one of the city’s soup kitchens, workers have had to double the food they have served in the past year.
Meanwhile, overall consumption collapsed: in October, the year-on-year drop exceeded 20%, accumulating a 12.8% decrease for the year, in line with a sharp loss in the actual value of wages and pensions.
While most people had to tighten their belts significantly, Milei’s image fluctuated between 42% and 45%.
Among some of the budget-cutting measures he implemented since taking office on December 10, 2023, he closed the money-printing spigot, cut funding to provinces and universities, suspended public works, reduced energy and transportation subsidies, eliminated ministries, and laid off thousands of public employees, among other measures.
Analysts watch closely to see if he can reactivate the economy after such a painful fiscal adjustment.
AP Video by Victor R. Caivano
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