Government will appeal against court’s decision that ordered it to immediately distribute 50 lakh kg of food

This morning, federal judge Sebastian Cassanello ordered the Ministry of Human Capital in charge of Sandra Petovellothat develop a plan to distribute in 72 hours the five tons of food stored in the warehouse for social assistance that had not been distributed for “immediate execution”. In addition, a campaign was launched to obtain details of everything stored in the warehouses.

After the motion was circulated, the national government gave assurances that it would appeal the order and the presidential spokesman said, Manuel Adornihe explained it. He introduced, saying, “We have always respected justice, which does not mean that we do not use the legal tools we have in cases where we do not agree, as is the case in this case.” .

“We are going to appeal this motion because this is not a judicial issue, but a definition of public policy. And justice cannot interfere with public policy,” said the spokesperson, who supported this position by adding: “These foods are preventively reserved for emergencies or disasters..This is not something that only happens in Argentina… Imagine that all the food is distributed and tomorrow we have a disaster that requires an urgent delivery of food. “Nobody can have stocks.”

To be more specific, the official pointed out that “of the 5 million kilos of food, 3.1 million correspond to yerba mate that was purchased by the previous government.” And he quickly stressed that “there is not a single food that will be thrown away. There is not a single food in our custody that is in danger of expiring.”

For spokesman Javier Mieli, the complaints arise from those who have lost privileges: “Some people are upset that we have eliminated intermediaries and a whole scheme in Argentina, where there were certainly many beneficiaries in a personal capacity, who feel hurt because they ended up having personal privileges.”

The complaint against the government was launched last February by a social leader Juan Grabois Against the Ministry of Human Capital for the suspension of food distribution in community kitchens located throughout the country within the framework of the “Argentina National Plan Against Hunger”

Grabois reported that approximately five thousand tons of undistributed food are stored by the Logistics Directorate of the Ministry of Human Capital in two distribution centers, one in Villa Martelli and the other in Tafí Viejo, in Tucumán. There are 2,751,653 kilos of food ready for delivery in Villa Martelli and 2,269,078 kilos in Tucumán.

The government recognized this situation. Adorn At a press conference last week and in a court case filed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, the ministry said it confirmed irregularities in the way the government distributed food Alberto Fernandez And they were working on a mechanism to rectify this.

“The fundamental human right to food is closely linked to the right to life, dignity and health, which is explicitly recognized in the human rights treaties and conventions that make up the so-called ‘constitutionalism block’. The mandate also contemplates the special protection of certain groups of people based on certain insecurity conditions,” Judge Casanello explained.

The magistrate also highlighted reports from the Argentine Social Debt Observatory of the Argentine Catholic University (UCA) which indicate that “57.4% of Argentina’s population is in poverty, including more than 60% of children and adolescents, 32% of whom suffer from food insecurity – 14% severely.”

Casanello rejected the prosecutor’s request paloma ochoa So that the food can be delivered to all the canteens that are registered in the National Registry of Canteens. The judge clarified that “it is up to the administration to choose, according to its point of view, the most appropriate means to ensure the fundamental right to adequate food and, in this specific case, to distribute the stored food.”

“The fundamental right to adequate food, which is internationally recognised and protected and to which the country has given constitutional status, clearly imposes the duty of the State to guarantee its effectiveness in a comprehensive manner, since there is no life without health and no health without the right to food. This imperative duty to supplement the work of public authorities also implies the possibility of positive action, on the part of the judiciary, based on the mandate to protect constitutional guarantees,” he said.

Thus, Casanello today gave the presentation orders “Description of the current stock of food stored in the warehouses located in the cities of Villa Martelli, Vicente López, Buenos Aires Province and Tafí Viejo, Tucumán Province, which must include the type of food, and the dates of acquisition and expiry of the goods. Also “records of entry and exit of goods from December 2023 to date” and “administrative files in which the acquisition of stored food has been processed, as well as all other related actions and/or documentation.”

Finally, Casanello ordered a plan to be developed within 72 hours for the immediate delivery of all food.