Her gas had been cut off that week, she was without electricity for non-payment, and the day before she hadn’t had enough money to buy food. She died after four days in the hospital, and her lawyer said she asked for help almost every day to pay her bills. Just hours before the official poverty figures were released, the minimum pension covers barely 30% of the basic food basket.
A 79-year-old retiree died after setting herself on fire on the sidewalk in front of the law office of the lawyer who was assisting her. She had spent four days hospitalized with serious burns at the Burn Institute. Before the incident, she asked that her dog , her only companion, be looked after: that same week her gas had been cut off for non-payment , she frequently lost electricity, and the day before she hadn’t had money to buy food .
Mónica Estévez, a lawyer and former provincial deputy who was assisting her, said that the woman came to her office almost every day to ask for help with food or paying her bills , and that in recent weeks she had told her she no longer wanted to live that way. She also said that she is not the only elderly woman who comes to her office saying she can’t afford her expenses.
The economic crisis had also affected her health: according to Estévez, she had stopped regularly buying the medications prescribed by her psychiatrist because she couldn’t afford them . A widow with a daughter who had died in an accident, she lived alone with her collie and was under psychiatric treatment.
The case went viral on social media with an incendiary comparison. It was shared by lawyer and human rights advocate Claudia Cesaroni, who quoted President Javier Milei : “If people couldn’t make ends meet, they would have already died .” The president had said this in May 2024, when a reporter criticized him for the fact that people couldn’t make ends meet. In response to the criticism, he insisted: “If people couldn’t make ends meet, they would be dying in the streets, that’s false.” Days later, at Stanford University, he added: “There will come a time when people will die of hunger. Somehow, they will decide to do something to avoid dying . ”
The numbers don’t support the official narrative either. In September, the minimum pension was $428,633.20 , and with the extraordinary bonus of $70,000 , the total income reaches $498,633.20 . According to the Ombudsman for the Elderly, Eugenio Semino, this minimum pension, received by more than 4 million retirees , covers only 30% of the basic food basket. For a family of four, the total basic food basket in August was $1,605,497, according to INDEC (National Institute of Statistics and Censuses).
The tragedy comes at the worst possible time for the government: this Thursday, the 24th, INDEC will release the poverty figures for the first half of 2026, and all private projections anticipate a decline. The nowcast from Torcuato Di Tella University estimated a poverty rate of 31.3% for March-August (approximately 9.4 million people in urban households ), while the Catholic University of Argentina (UCA) calculated between 31% and 32% , with some suggesting up to 1.7 million newly impoverished individuals . Meanwhile, the 2027 Budget projects that utility rates will cover more than 88% of energy costs, with unsubsidized households paying 94.6% of their electricity bills. For the retired woman from Trenque Lauquen, this adjustment had already arrived: no gas, no electricity, and no money for food.