by Roque Frangolini He is a piquetero leader of the Libres del Sur organization, which in the Buenos Aires town of San Nicolás administers around a hundred social plans. In the last hours, he was denounced before the Justice for the alleged charge of 10% to the beneficiaries of the Empower Workfollowing a series of transfers made in his name and different chats that circulated and compromised him.
A report by journalist Tomás Díaz Cueto on his Instagram account was the one that uncovered the pot and triggered a scandal in San Nicolás. There, he spread Whatsapp conversations, payment receipts, beneficiary lists and even audios in which Frangolini asks for a percentage in exchange for managing the social plans. Most of the transfers to his account are between $7,000 and $14,000, the approximate equivalent of 10% of the actual amount of the Boost, stipulated in January at $78,000 per month.
To Frangolini’s account At least four transfers were made, for $7,300, $7,800, $8,100 and $14,600although in the list of beneficiaries that he himself sent by chat the number is much higher, around the 100 that Libres del Sur manages in the town in the interior of the province of Buenos Aires.
In addition, there are texts sent in which the picketer takes a list of the beneficiaries so that they can mobilize to different demonstrations that he calls for and in which he warns that will be “controlling everything”. He also communicates who are those who missed those protests and those who have not yet complied with the monthly “contribution”, that tithe that he took.
The newest audio involving him is prior to the strike on January 24. A march had been called to Plaza Miter, about which Frangolini clarified: “If I don’t see them on Tuesday and Wednesday the 24th, I won’t re-register them in the organization. Here, the lukewarm ones who stay at home. But don’t try to keep getting paid.”
In another, previous audio, Frangolini called on the beneficiaries to receive Axel Kicillof during the governor’s visit to San Nicolás in November 2023, prior to the runoff that Sergio Massa ended up losing to Javier Milei. “We are going to go find the people to go vote,” the picketer transmitted to his interlocutors in another audio before that election.. Frangolini was a candidate for mayor in San Nicolás last year, but did not exceed 1.5% of the votes.
In addition to the report he made on his social networks, Díaz Cueto reported Frangolini to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which is investigating the information he provided them. From Libres del Sur, consulted by ClarionIts main representative, Silvia Saravia, acknowledged that Frangolini belongs to her organization and assured that “we are on the subject,” in reference to the internal investigation that was opened to investigate how the leader proceeded.
Libres del Sur is, at the national level, one of the social organizations that receives the most funds as intermediaries from its beneficiaries, estimated at approximately 70,000 throughout the country. And it is also one of those that usually mobilizes protests against the Government for the payment of airplanes, both in the government of Alberto Fernández and in the current one of Javier Milei. There are others, such as the Partido Obrero, equal or more numerous, who admitted that they charged a 2% cachet to the beneficiaries of Empower Work. This was recognized by the leader Gabriel Solano, pre-candidate for president in the last PASO.
