A former Malvinas combatant committed suicide in the last few hours by throwing himself under a Roca Railway train near Monte Grande, a town in the province of Buenos Aires where he was living.
The victim was Pedro Roberto Bevans , a former conscript soldier in the 12th Infantry Regiment of Mercedes , Corrientes province, who after returning from Malvinas had to move to the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires.
Bevans settled first in Lanús and later in Monte Grande, where he stayed until his last days and worked as an assistant in public schools.
According to what Info Blanco Sobre Negro was able to find out from the Malvinas Islands Veterans' Centre (CECIM) in La Plata, the man suffered from a chronic illness and depression "aggravated by the policy of abandonment implemented by the PAMI social security organisation".
"This case has set off alarm bells in ex-combatant organizations, since there have been no suicide cases in recent years," warned CECIM , which together with CEVECIM Berisso filed an appeal in Federal Court No. 4 of La Plata, headed by Judge Alberto Recondo, to restore 100 percent coverage of medications for ex-combatants.
"It is regrettable that PAMI denies this situation, since we receive complaints from all over the country every day ," the organization from La Plata questioned, and recalled that Resolution 191/05 "highlights that the needs of the universe of members of the prevention and health care program must be different in terms of age characteristics and prevalent pathologies according to the predominant groups."
"Unfortunately, a situation that occurred in the late 1990s is being repeated, when ex-combatants were held hostage by a system of corruption that squandered resources intended for ex-soldiers and their families. In this case, we are dealing with a vulnerable population that needs adequate services for certain pathologies characteristic of the sector, physical and psychological after-effects resulting from having gone through an armed conflict ," concluded the CECIM, and blamed the executive director of PAMI, Estebán Legizamo, for the situation.
Fountain:
TAGS: MALVINAS, CECIM, ROCA RAILWAY, PAMI, SUICIDE, ABANDONMENT, MONTE GRANDE, PEDRO ROBERTO BEVANS, EX-COMBATANT, MALVINAS, WAR
