Strong criticism of a former foreign ministry official for the forest fires in Patagonia

Silvia Vázquez, former director of environmental affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headed by Felipe Solá, has launched strong criticism of the government for the forest fires in Patagonia. He accused the leadership led by Environment Minister Juan Cabandié of not having used 37% of funds last year intended for the fire management plan and said Environment Minister Juan Cabandié visited Patagonia this week “disguised as a brigadist”.

“They under-executed the 2020 budget and now they are going to the burnt areas just for the photo, disguised as brigadists, as before (former minister Sergio) Bergman disguised himself as a bird ”, said the former official, who resigned her post at Solá’s foreign ministry last November. “You have less budget than in 2017 and in addition you are under-executing the budget,” added Vázquez, openly criticizing Minister Cabandié.

“El año pasado perdimos a million hectáreas por los incendios forestales. No hay prevención ni herramientas para combatir los incendios. with Bugle.

Vázquez is a K radical, Chairman of the Green Party, a political group that is still part of the Frente de Todos and supported the presidential candidacy of Alberto Fernández. For this reason, Minister Solá appointed her Director of Environmental Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a post she resigned last November due to differences over her specific management area. And each time, we see it further from the official alliance.

This week, when the forest fires broke out in Patagonia, the former Solá official questioned Cabandié and tweeted: “It’s the problem of ‘non-working officials’ who under-executed the budget in 2020 by 37%, they defended the 2021 one so badly that the national system only has 0.003% of the budget. This is the problem that arises when “non-working officials” assemble “a box from the outside” (another for + a) increasing the unbalanced tax burden in our country. Always pay with someone else’s pocket ”.

“Once again #ArgentinaEnLlamas. Once again the government was late and bad for the date. Participate again in the “ ministerial trip ” for the photo opportunity. We had to defend the budget to empower the national fire management system, ”Vázquez said on his Twitter account.

His criticisms on social networks were answered by Sergio Federovisky, Deputy Minister of the Environment and Sustainable Development of the Nation: “We must be informed. Thanks to a project promoted by @AmbienteNacion, the fire plan now has ” a fund made up of 3 per thousand insurance policies, which by 2021 five times the 2020 budget and this makes it possible to plan investments in the future, ”said Cabandié’s second.

And Vázquez replied: “Tell the people of Lago Puelo, Cholila, El Maiten and El Bolsón, tell the wounded and the 200 evacuees and the 44 million Argentines who lost more than a million hectares in 2020 and more 40,000 hectares in just 2 months. Tell them … “.

This controversy was also joined by Buenos Aires Left Front lawmaker Gabriel Solano, who said: “Did you know that the government has nominally cut 30% of the National Fire Management Plan budget despite recurring fires? The 2021 budget is $ 282,876,000 whereas in 2020 it was $ 441,000,000. What does Cabandié say about this adjustment? “

This is because forest fires are an increasingly widespread phenomenon. This week, thousands of hectares were set on fire in Río Negro and Chubut, where more than 200 houses were set on fire, with a balance of 1 missing and 30 injured, including a woman severely burned. And that’s where Minister Cabandié went.

“Since the time of María Julia Alsogaray, the country has been set on fire. But the current government subsidizes fossil fuels with 10 times more than the budget it has available for the Environment, so the money is there, but you put it in something else ”, concluded Vázquez, in dialogue with Bugle.