Buenos Aires Herald 
Juntos por el Cambio (JxC) presidential candidate Patricia Bullrich accused Social Development Minister Victoria Tolosa Paz of an alleged “corruption act” involving the purchase of blankets destined for people in need.
Bullrich based her accusation on an article published in the La Nación newspaper, which said that the Ministry had paid 177% over market value for 160,000 blankets. The purchase was authorized last April and was officially announced this week. Taking into account potential delays due to official delivery procedures, the article states that the blankets could reach beneficiaries “in the Spring.”
“Every day, a new corruption act [done] by the worst government in history is uncovered,” said Bullrich in a post published on the website X (formerly Twitter). Bullrich vowed to “end things like this” if she became president, saying that public information will be available to all citizens while once again attacking the government.
“It is spelled Kirchnerism, but it is pronounced ‘corruption’,” she added.
Tolosa Paz responded to Bullrich, saying that “the state’s purchasing process is absolutely transparent.”
“I would not like to see the [government] in the hands of an ignorant woman who would rule by googling reference prices,” she posted on X. She also published a communiqué detailing what the blankets cost. According to this statement, the amount paid by the Ministry hovered between 12% and 23% below blanket reference prices.
Regarding the time of year the purchase was made, the communiqué stressed that the Social Development Ministry purchases blankets “on a regular and habitual basis” to attend foreseeable events during the winter and all over the country due to its “very broad temperature range.”
The press release also said that the Ministry also has blanket stocks for contingencies that arise from “fortuitous events.”
“For example, last weekend there were floods in Corrientes and Misiones, and two weeks ago there were [similar events] in the suburbs of Buenos Aires province and in La Plata, the provincial capital,” the press release said.
“They want to rule a country they don’t know,” Tolosa Paz added.
