In a new blow to the clientelist structures of Kirchnerism, the National Institute of Associativism and Social Economy (INAES), under the Ministry of Human Capital, announced the suspension of 196 worker cooperatives due to serious irregularities in their constitution and operation.
Among them, 14 are linked to the Evita Movement, the organization led by Emilio Pérsico, one of the main exponents of Kirchnerist schemes.
The measure by the Government of Javier Milei is based on the finding that founding members were part of multiple cooperatives simultaneously, shared addresses with political organizations, and a clear distortion of the cooperative model.
In some cases, two people managed to create 14 cooperatives each, a scheme suggesting a systematic attempt to divert state resources.
Emilio Pérsico, dirigente piquetero.
Additionally, INAES had already deregistered 33 cooperatives investigated in the "Guardapolvos" case, a scandal of alleged money laundering involving the former Ministry of Social Development under the management of Kirchnerist Victoria Tolosa Paz.
In this scheme, cooperatives linked to social movements received more than $5 billion for the production of school smocks, but only delivered half of the order while collecting 80% of the allocated money.
A web of corruption
According to INAES resolution 3243/24, many of these cooperatives were created with the minimum number of members allowed between 2021 and 2023, taking advantage of regulatory flexibility promoted during the government of Alberto Fernández.
This situation changed in December 2024, when the Government of Javier Milei tightened regulations to prevent abuses in the creation of cooperatives with dubious purposes.
Among the most notable cases is Emilce Aguirre, a leader of the Evita Movement in Berazategui, who is listed as the founder of 14 cooperatives. The most revealing aspect is that four of these cooperatives shared an address with an Evita Movement office at Avenida 14 No. 4452, while another four were registered at Calle 21 No. 2615, also linked to the organization.
Javier Milei, presidente de Argentina.
Additionally, official documentation details that Aguirre presented herself with diverse occupations, declaring to be a bricklayer, cook, communicator, caregiver, student, and maintenance worker, a strategy that reinforces suspicions about the lack of real activity of these cooperatives.
INAES justified the suspension by pointing out that the constitution of cooperatives with diverse social purposes, repeated members, and distant locations is impractical in practice, leading to the conclusion that many of them were created with fraudulent purposes.
The suspended cooperatives
This new measure is not an isolated event, as it is part of the Reorganization and Control Plan promoted by the management of Sandra Pettovello, which has already led to the suspension of nearly 5,000 cooperatives and 417 mutuals due to lack of documentation or regulatory non-compliance.
In January of this year, INAES had deregistered 7,873 cooperatives that did not comply with regulations, in an attempt to dismantle the parasitic structures that benefited from state resources without providing a real service to the community.
One of the most serious cases was the so-called Guardapolvos Case, in which 33 cooperatives linked to Kirchnerist movements were investigated for money laundering. These organizations received millions of pesos from the state, but did not fulfill the agreed production.
An audit also revealed that their workers, beneficiaries of the Potenciar Trabajo program, were exploited in semi-slavery conditions.
The suspension of these cooperatives marks a new chapter in the fight against the discretionary use of public resources and reinforces the commitment to a more transparent state free from clientelism. The Government of Javier Milei remains firm in its crusade against corruption and the theft of public funds.
