Struggling to feed her family after losing her job as a cleaner earlier this year, 56-year-old Norma Villarreal went to church Wednesday in the hardscrabble outskirts of Buenos Aires and waited in the pre-dawn darkness for over an hour to petition St. Cayetano, the patron saint of bread and work. Throughout decades of political change in Argentina, the annual Aug. 7 pilgrimage to St. Cayetano Sanctuary has served as a potent, and grim, reminder that in Argentina, economic despair remains a constant. But this year might be unique in one thing: The desperation over rising joblessness that drives Argentines to call on St. Cayetano has been matched by rage at the painful austerity program of libertarian President Javier Milei. While Milei has prioritized combating the country’s dizzying inflation rate — which fell in June to 4.2% month on month, the lowest since January 2022. Unemployment has become a growing concern as Milei’s government freezes public works projects and shutters ministries in his campaign to cut down the state.

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Persons: Norma Villarreal, Cayetano, ” Villarreal, Javier Milei, Milei, ”, Ana Maria Muñoz, hasn’t, “, I’m, Orlando Ortega, we’ve, Milei’s, Wednesday’s, Manuel Adorni, Rodolfo Aguiar Organizations: Roman Catholic, National Secretariat for Children, Ministry of Human, ” Union, State Workers Association Locations: hardscrabble, Buenos Aires, Naples, Argentina, St