The great spectacle of round numbers
In what was surely a morning conference full of the usual emotion, Ariadna Montiel, the head of the Ministry of Welfare, appeared to give us a shower of figures as intense as the one that fell on several states. With the precision of an accountant on payday, he reported that 103,245 homes have been censused. A figure so specific that one can almost hear the spreadsheets rustling in the background. Is there someone, in some dark basement of the bureaucracy, counting tile by tile?
The scenario: the floods in Puebla, Veracruz, Hidalgo, Querétaro and San Luis Potosí. The answer: a census. Because in the event of a natural disaster, the first thing is to fill out forms. But here’s the great news: 70,356 people have already received their first support of 20 thousand pesos. Twenty thousand pesos. The magic amount that, according to authorities, is the balm to repair a house that the river possibly carried away. It’s like trying to plug a hole in a dam with chewing gum, but with better publicity.
The geographical breakdown of misfortune
For those who love details, the secretary gave us a breakdown by state that would be the envy of any PowerPoint presentation. As of October 23, 22,325 houses in Hidalgo were censused; 3 thousand 864 in Querétaro; 11 thousand 978 in Puebla; 9 thousand 985 in San Luis Potosí; and the jewel in the crown, 56 thousand 93 in Veracruz. Veracruz, as always, taking the cake in misfortune. One wonders if the census includes a question about how many fish stayed to live in the room.
While citizens try to remove the mud from their belongings, the government deploys its heavy artillery: the cards of the Women’s Wellbeing program. With the solemnity of someone announcing a scientific discovery, Montiel highlighted that one million 349 thousand women already have the plastic of hope in their hands. “We are delivering these cards, between October 10 and November 10, we are already a little more than halfway done,” he declared. What a relief to know that the schedule is being met, while the water may not have completely subsided yet.
And to maintain the intrigue, as in a soap opera, the monetary deposits will arrive at the end of November and the beginning of December. Just in time for the end of year holidays. Isn’t it romantic? The promise of a deposit that coincides with the time of peace and goodwill. A masterful strategy to ensure that the Christmas spirit arrives, literally, deposited in an account.
In short, we have impeccable figures, optimistic schedules and the security that, despite nature’s efforts to prove otherwise, paperwork and government aid advance with the speed of a procedure… well, a government procedure. Everything is under control, or at least that’s what the slides suggest.
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