Más Barrio Social Program Arrives in San Antonio Neighborhood

The Más Barrio social program arrived in the San Antonio neighborhood of Maldonado, deploying census takers to survey residents while escorted by police.

A child walking to school asked a worker what was happening when the team appeared with branded vests, El Observador reported. Workers answered that they were asking questions to understand housing conditions, family structures, and local needs.

The program previously visited Cerro Norte in Montevideo, Corfrisa in Las Piedras, La Colina in Rivera, and Las Higueras in Durazno. Some San Antonio residents learned of the operativo on the same day, while others had already heard about it.

“Otra vez ustedes, ojalá sirva para algo,” an elderly resident told the census takers, according to El Observador, before returning inside to complain about noisy neighbors.

Another resident admitted to giving information only because police accompanied the team, though organizers said that rejection rates remained low. The neighborhood contains roughly 750 homes and a population of about 2,000 people across both regularized areas and a settlement.

San Antonio has frequently experienced security incidents, according to official data. A legislative request submitted by deputy Diego Echeverría to the Ministry of the Interior showed that eight homicides occurred in the area between January 2020 and August 2025, El Observador reported.

Four of those murders involved criminal conflicts or score-settling, two had unknown motives, one stemmed from domestic violence, and the final case occurred during a robbery or home invasion.

During that same five-year window, the area recorded 28 people injured by firearms, nine with severe physical injuries, and nine wounded by bladed weapons. By comparison, Cerro Norte registered 36 homicides alongside 178 firearm injuries, 61 bladed weapon wounds, and 32 severe physical injuries.

The report also established a Weighted Violence Index to compare regional safety using frequency, severity, and population size. San Antonio scored 5.7 on the index, placing eighth among 21 analyzed areas and serving as the only Maldonado zone on a list led by seven Montevideo neighborhoods.

Forty census workers from the University of the Republic’s Faculty of Social Sciences, the departmental government, and the ministries of Social Development and Housing carried out the three-day survey.

“Se está aplicando el formulario de vulnerabilidad social del Mides, nos permite tener un montón de datos puerta para adentro, y también uno más subjetivo que es la percepción de seguridad y convivencia que tienen los vecinos en el barrio,” said Silvana Nieves, program coordinator.

The initiative focuses on four core intervention axes covering urban infrastructure, public spaces, housing improvements, and security. Organizers said that community participation forms a foundational pillar across all areas as teams work to build local trust and address infrastructure deficiencies that require municipal planning and structural engineering professionals.