Mayoral candidate in Argentina goes viral with ‘1,000 toilets’ vow

A mayoral candidate in a Tucumán town has made waves online after promising in a campaign spot to construct 1,000 toilets so that poverty-stricken residents can “shit in a decent toilet.”

Enrique Lazarte’s viral video – which highlights the lack of running water and bathrooms in many homes in Tafí Viejo – exploded online this week, shining a light on the awful sanitary conditions in the northern town.

In the video, the candidate shows that some streets in Tafí Viejo are not asphalted and claims that more than 1,000 families do not have toilets in their homes.

"Surely you [the viewer] have a place to shit. But more than a thousand families in Tafí have neither water nor toilets," said the mayoral hopeful.

"Enrique Lazarte":
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In the spot, which lasts 51 seconds, Lazarte assures: "Surely the mayor and his wife also have a place to go to shit and it must be very nice. But more than a thousand families from Tafí don't have that possibility."

Tafí Viejo, located some 15 kilometres north of the provincial capital of San Miguel de Tucumán, has a population of between 40,000 and 50,000 inhabitants. 

Lazarte pointed the finger at current mayor, Javier Noguera, and pointed out that his administration has not been able to solve the problem despite eight years of governance.

Notably, both Noguera and Lazarte are members of the ruling Frente de Todos coalition. The direct challenge to his political ally is an “act of rebellion,” the mayoral hopeful said this week.

"It has been an act of rebellion and to call things by their name. It has no other meaning than to express our anger and to say it in all its words," Lazarte said in an interview with the Infobae website.

"The mayor does not have this problem but he should have been part of the solution in the last eight years," declared Lazarte, a public accountant and professor of economics.

In his video, the hopeful vowed to bring dignity and “decent” toilets to residents.

"One of the first measures I will take when I take office is to implement the 'decent toilets' programme, which consists of building of the 1,000 toilets that are missing in Tafí in record time, so that everyone has the possibility of going to take a shit in a decent toilet."

Apart from improving sanitary facilities, the leader told news outlets that he also intended to construct new houses while refurbishing more than 4,000 existing homes. 

"I want Tafí Viejo to be a prosperous, friendly, clean city, with better access to health, housing and work. I want the people of Tafí Viejo to have the quality of life we deserve, and to be able to live better," he declared.

– TIMES/NA/PERFIL