Argentina’s Human Capital Ministry has acknowledged in an official filing that a comprehensive audit of community soup kitchens receiving state funds, which was utilized by President Javier Milei’s administration to rationalize the cessation of food supplies, is “non-existent.” The disclosure substantiates the assertions made by the opposition that the administration misrepresented facts when a senior official publicly stated that half of the soup kitchens receiving funding were nonexistent.
The term “phantom audit” served as a rationale for President Javier Milei, Human Capital Minister Sandra Pettovello, and then-Cabinet chief Nicolás Posse during public appearances and interviews, as they defended a governmental decision to halt food deliveries to community soup kitchens that support the impoverished. The acknowledgment was made following a freedom of information request submitted, 15 months prior, on May 16, 2024 – merely a day after Posse referenced the purported audit during a congressional appearance. “The generic reference to ‘audit’ pertains to a grammatical interpretation made by the then-Cabinet chief, which relates to the control actions of the entities responsible for executing public policies, rather than an audit report as defined by the scope outlined in Law No. 24,156.”
The reference pertains to the Financial Administration Law, which governs the operations of public entities. The Ministry of Human Capital affirmed, in its reply, that they conducted “supervisions and/or territorial verifications.” It acknowledged that these “do not correspond methodologically or teleologically with the audit reports.” During a session of Congress in May 2024, Posse addressed the Legislative Assembly, stating: “An audit was carried out … Nearly half of the kitchens were nonexistent. The official asserted that state investigators had identified “addresses where no kitchen had ever operated and, in other cases, where kitchens had functioned many years ago.”
Following Pettovello’s initial refusal to furnish the documentation necessary to substantiate those claims, Zaracho escalated the issue to the judiciary, ultimately securing a court ruling that compelled the Human Capital Ministry to provide a response. Over a year later, government officials have formally acknowledged in writing that no such audit was conducted.