BUENOS AIRES: Some 3,000 homeless people sat down for a festive Christmas charity dinner on Tuesday in the centre of Buenos Aires, at a time when more than half of Argentina’s population is affected by poverty, one year into ultra-liberal Javier Milei’s term in office.

“I came because I feel alone and it’s sad,” said Walter Villagra, a 54-year-old homeless man who survives by collecting cans after he lost his job as an electrician four years ago.

Titled “No Family Without Christmas,” the event in front of the National Congress was held for the eighth consecutive year, and Tuesday’s turnout exceeded organisers’ expectations.

“To say that it is a special year because there is more and more poverty is sad, but it is true,” Mariana Gonzalez, spokesperson for the Movement of Excluded Workers, one of the organisers behind the event, said.

“There are more and more people sleeping on the street and more people coming to the soup kitchens because they do not have a plate of food, it is a very difficult year.”

Long tables covered with tablecloths were laid out on the street in front of Congress and the atmosphere was joyful with floating balloons, music and clowns walking on stilts.

Guests ranging from single adults to elderly couples and families with children greeted the arrival of each of the trucks carrying food with shouts and applause. Before dinner, about a hundred people were able to take a shower and get a haircut or a shave in tents set up around the square.

Published in Dawn, December 26th, 2024