In Argentina, hunger cries ring in amid crisis

In the hard-up neighborhood of Claypole on the outskirts of Argentine capital Buenos Aires, Elena Escobar makes her way to the local Caritas Felices soup kitchen to serve food to street children who scrape by from meal to meal. Escobar, 53, says the volunteer-run kitchen has seen a surge of kids and families seeking help over the last few months, amid a biting recession and fast-rising prices that have pushed millions of people into poverty.

"There are many children in need, many malnourished, with kids that get to dinner time and don't have any food," said Escobar. The kitchen receives over 100 children each week, up from around 20-30 when it opened its doors in April. The rise in hunger and poverty creates a complex backdrop for the leaders of Latin America's no. 3 economy, who are in knife-edge talks with creditors to avoid default on billions of dollars of debt amid economic and political upheaval.

Ahead of a presidential election on Oct. 27, officials will head to Washington this month to meet with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a major backer that struck a $57 billion funding deal here with the country last year. Those talks are likely to weigh on the current administration of President Mauricio Macri and the next one, likely led by left-leaning Peronist Alberto Fernandez, the frontrunner to win the vote.

The Claypole kitchen is far from alone in witnessing rising hardship, with government data showing poverty rates jumped to 35% in the first half of 2019 amid recession and steep inflation, from 27.3% a year earlier.

Around 13% of children and adolescents went hungry in 2018, according to data from the Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina, and rising food prices have become a regular target of popular anger in street protests around the country.

Political leaders know something must be done, but face a complex juggling act: bolstering growth and spending to ease issues such as hunger, while cutting debt and averting a damaging default that would shut off access to global markets.

"We can't live in peace with such a scourge," left-leaning Fernandez said in a speech in reference to hunger, which he described as Argentina's "greatest shame."

Fernandez, who has been buoyed by support for populist running mate Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, blames Macri and austerity measures agreed with the International Monetary Fund for the rise in poverty and hunger. Macri's running mate, Miguel Pichetto, meanwhile, said the way to eradicate hunger was to generate employment and attract "big global companies" to Argentina.

Both sides have said they would honor the country's debts with creditors, including the IMF, though neither has laid out a clear plan for how to do so while boosting spending at home. Hunger and poverty are not new in Argentina, but have risen abruptly over the past two years amid a series of economic shocks.