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I pass by Paternal station with my bike, on my way to a friends house. The station is on the line to Moreno, the south west of great Buenos Aires, an area of endless shantytowns.
I got used to cartoneros, my cartoneros. But if you think you saw the worst, it seems that it can be even worse.
These cartoneros walk around in rags, dragging their bags or pushing the few carts I notice. There isnt any organisation visible. Its pure decay what I see.
Jorge tells me: " The price of the paper is going down again, holidays are coming in two months." He is a cartonero, for seven years now. Normally he stores the carton in his house during the holiday months and when the price goes up in March he sells it. "How do you live during these months," I ask. "I use the money I have saved," he answers. "But this year everything is different. I wasnt able to save money. The price of the carton goes down earlier and deeper and there are more, more cartoneros. The supply becomes bigger and bigger."