Thousands attend Christmas charity dinner in Buenos Aires

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  • Aerial view showing volunteers and homeless people taking part in a Christmas solidarity dinner called ‘No Families Without Christmas’ in front of the National Congress in Buenos Aires on 24 December 2024. PHOTO: TOMAS CUESTA / AFP

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 organizers’ 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 organizers behind the event, told AFP. “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.” — AFP

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar