Maradona’s birthplace turned to soup kitchen

Diego Maradona would be happy, his fans say.

The childhood home of the late Argentine football legend has been transformed into a soup kitchen for people squeezed by hunger.

The needy can also ask for clothing at 523 Amazor Street in the Buenos Aires suburb of Fiorito, where the player dubbed Argentina’s “Golden Boy” grew up in grinding poverty.

In this neighborhood of around 50,000 people living in modest brick homes, dozens of murals depict key moments in the career of the illustrious number 10, who died in 2020 at the age of 60.

Yesterday, a new trial for criminal negligence begun for the seven-strong medical team that was caring for Maradona in his final days, as he was recovering from brain surgery.

If he were alive “Diego would say there is a lot of hunger and we have to help, because the need is so great,” Diego Gavilan, one of the kitchen’s beneficiaries, told AFP.

There are no tables or chairs for diners at this establishment.

The food prepared by volunteers over open fires in the yard is handed out in bags to people queueing at the door.

Maradona often spoke of his humble beginnings in a community that lacked running water and paved streets.

Father Leonardo Torres is one of the driving forces behind the soup kitchen.

He recalls Maradona recounting how his mother, Dalma “Tota” Franco, would go without food so he could eat his fill.

“Diego said that his mother would pretend her stomach hurt so he could eat,” he said.

“We want many ‘Totas’ and many ‘Diegos’ to leave here with a full stomach,” he added. –AFP