Argentines ask patron saint of work for jobs with elections around the corner
Argentines have lined up on a bitterly cold winter morning as part of an annual pilgrimage to a Roman Catholic shrine for the patron saint of work
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentines lined up on a bitterly cold winter morning Monday in an annual pilgrimage to a Roman Catholic shrine for the patron saint of work, asking for jobs and prosperity as many struggle with one of the world’s highest inflation rates.
Voters in the South American country are set to go to the polls Sunday in national primary elections that will determine party candidates for the October presidential race. But many of those in line at the shrine to St. Cayetano had little optimism things would change regardless of who comes out on top.
Rubén Gómez said he hasn’t been able to find steady work since he lost his job at a slaughterhouse two years ago.
“I was fine until the pandemic,” he said, adding that he now must do odd jobs to survive.
With elections looming, Gómez complained that “whoever gets in, things will be worse.” As far as he is concerned, “they’re all the same.”
Economy Minister Sergio Massa will be the presidential candidate of the left-of-center governing coalition. Buenos Aires Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta and former security minister Patricia Bullrich are facing off to represent the main opposition coalition. But a populist right-wing candidate, Javier Milei, has gained traction this year amid general discontent over Argentina's economic straits.
Héctor Blas García also was in line to ask St. Cayetano for a job.
“I was left without work three years ago and I need to work,” said Blas García, who was laid off from an auto parts factory during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Things are very difficult right now in terms of employment with
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