In a new chapter that demonstrates the extent to which kirchnerismo has infused its militant logic into public institutions, the delegate of PAMI in El Bolsón, María Eugenia Alonso, was dismissed from her position after closing the local Primary Care Center on June 18 to join a march in "solidarity" with Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who was convicted of corruption. The episode not only left more than 3,700 members without assistance, but also sparked a wave of social and political outrage.
The measure, which was promoted by the ATE branch, was also joined by the office workers, who were suspended for 29 days. According to the authorities of the organization, no one attended to the public or performed internal tasks that day, even though the employees later tried to claim that "they had clocked in and remained on the premises."
PAMI .
On the front of the PAMI office, residents found the windows covered with strike posters, including one that read: "ATE. 6/18. National Strike". The scene was repeated in different offices across the country, but it was in the Río Negro locality where the incident escalated to become a symbol of the distorted use of state agencies by a sector that still answers to the former president.
A resident of El Bolsón made her complaint public through local media and social networks. She described in stark terms the scene she found when she arrived with her 89-year-old mother: "What we found was devastating: closed doors, windows covered with strike posters, not even the slightest attention, not a single person to receive us. Only one clear message: there's no one here today". In her testimony, she added: "Where is the present State when there is not even a minimum staff to attend to urgent situations? We're not talking about convenience, we're talking about elderly people."
In response to the public outcry, PAMI authorities issued a statement in which they justified the decision to remove Alonso and suspend the rest of the staff as part of "a policy of transparency and responsibility promoted by the current administration, which will not tolerate the political-partisan use of public resources or the abandonment of duties."
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The controversy also resonated in the political arena. The national deputy from La Libertad Avanza, Lorena Villaverde, was one of the most forceful voices: "No political sector can use State institutions as an ideological trench and hold citizens, in this case our elders, hostage to their activism. It's not only an act of deep irresponsibility but also an absolute disregard for the duty they have to the community."
Villaverde welcomed the measure taken by PAMI's leadership and shared the statement on her social networks, where she emphasized: "You don't play with retirees." She later added: "Public offices must be a space of service, meeting the needs of everyone, and not ideological trenches defending partisan interests. Here, a limit was set against kirchnerista activism that tried to impose itself over the needs of the elderly."
