BANDUNG, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s government was facing calls on Thursday to suspend President Prabowo Subianto ’s multi-billion-dollar free meals program after thousands of school pupils fell ill in an food poisoning outbreak.
Television reports showed hospital wards filled with children, with some crying in pain and clutching their stomachs, while police and health workers carried away other victims in ambulances, vans and trucks.
The Free Nutritious Meal program was started in January with the aim of fighting malnutrition by feeding nearly 90 million children and pregnant women. The initiative, which is expected to cost $28 billion through 2029, delivers on a campaign promise by Subianto, who was elected last year, which has more than 282 million people and Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
The National Nutrition Agency recorded about 1,376 cases of school-linked food poisoning cases between January and the end of June. The number of students affected rose to 4,711 this week, with more than 1,000 victims reported in hardest hit West Java province alone.
Agency chief Dadan Hindayana said kitchens with poisoning cases had been suspended and local governments had set up task forces of nutritionists and health workers to supervise the free meals.
“The total number of food poisonings was only 4,711 portions out of 1 billion portions cooked during the 9-month program," Hindayana said. "Of course this can still be improved.”
Muhammad Qodari, head of the Presidential Staff Office, said Thursday that several government institutions have identified more than 5,000 food poisoning victims linked to the school meals program. The Ministry of Health recorded 5,207 cases, and the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency reported 5,320, he said.
Dedi Mulyadi, the governor of West Java, said more than 470 students fell sick in Bandung on Monday after eating the free lunches, and three more outbreaks were reported on Wednesday in the Sukabumi region, affecting at least 580 children. Several hundreds of sick children were also reported from other areas in the province on Thursday, bringing the total victims to at least 1,775.
He said students suffering from the disease complained of shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness and severe stomach pain.
The Center for Indonesia’s Strategic Development Initiatives said the latest data suggests the number of reported cases represent “a tip of the iceberg”.
Diah Saminarsih, chief executive of the non-profit organization, said: “The true number of cases is suspected to be significantly higher as many are reluctant to report what really happened. We call to suspend the program due to health concern.”
The Indonesian Education Monitoring Network, a watchdog group, said the free meals program had failed.
“We call on President Prabowo Subianto to temporarily halt the free meal program and conduct a thorough evaluation,” said Ubaid Matraji, the group coordinator. “Child safety must be placed above the government’s political goals.”
Mulyadi said: “We must evaluate those running the programs that have caused health concerns and traumatize of children. At this time, ensuring children are well cared for is our priority. We are also facing on how to deal with the students’ trauma after eating the food.”
Karmini reported from Jakarta, Indonesia
Health workers examine children who fell ill from food poisoning, at Cililin Hospital in West Bandung, Indonesia, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Adnan Kheruma)
Health workers assist children who fell ill from food poisoning as they arrive in an ambulance, at Cililin Hospital in West Bandung, Indonesia, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Adnan Kheruma)
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez is set Thursday to deliver her first state of the union speech, addressing an anxious country as she navigates competing pressures from the United States – which toppled her predecessor less than two weeks ago – and a government loyal to former President Nicolás Maduro.
The speech comes one day after Rodríguez said her government would continue releasing prisoners detained under Maduro in what she described as “a new political moment” since his ouster by the United States earlier this month.
In her address to the National Assembly, which is controlled by the country's ruling party, Rodríguez is expected to explain her vision for her government, including potential changes to the state-owned oil industry that U.S. President Donald Trump has promised to reinvigorate since Maduro’s seizure.
On Thursday, Trump was set to meet at the White House with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, whose political party is widely considered to have won 2024 elections rejected by Maduro. But in endorsing Rodríguez, who served as Maduro’s vice president since 2018, Trump has sidelined Machado.
After acknowledging a Tuesday call with Trump, Rodríguez said on state television that her government would use “every dollar” earned from oil sales to overhaul the nation’s public health care system. Hospitals and other health care facilities across the country have long been crumbling, and patients are asked to provide practically all supplies needed for their care, from syringes to surgical screws.
The acting president must walk a tightrope, balancing pressures from both Washington and top Venezuelan officials who hold sway over Venezuela's security forces and strongly oppose the U.S. Her recent public speeches reflect those tensions — vacillating from conciliatory calls for cooperation with the U.S., to defiant rants echoing the anti-imperialist rhetoric of her toppled predecessor.
American authorities have long railed against a government they describe as a “dictatorship,” while Venezuela’s government has built a powerful populist ethos sharply opposed to U.S. meddling in its affairs.
For the foreseeable future, Rodríguez's government has been effectively relieved of having to hold elections. That's because when Venezuela’s high court granted Rodríguez presidential powers on an acting basis, it cited a provision of the constitution that allows the vice president to take over for a renewable period of 90 days.
Trump enlisted Rodríguez to help secure U.S. control over Venezuela’s oil sales despite sanctioning her for human rights violations during his first term. To ensure she does his bidding, Trump threatened Rodríguez earlier this month with a “situation probably worse than Maduro.”
Maduro, who is being held in a Brooklyn jail, has pleaded not guilty to drug-trafficking charges.
Before Rodríguez’s speech on Thursday, a group of government supporters was allowed into the presidential palace, where they chanted for Maduro, who the government insists remains the country’s president. “Maduro, resist, the people are rising,” they shouted.
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez makes a statement to the press at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez, center, smiles flanked by Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, right, and National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez after making a statement to the press at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
