BUENOS AIRES: Hundreds of thousands of Argentines took to the streets on Tuesday to voice outrage at cuts to higher public education under budget-slashing new President Javier Milei.
Joined by professors, parents, and alumni from the economic crisis-hit South American nation’s 57 state-run universities, students rose up “in defense of free public university education.”
Labor unions, private universities, and opposition parties supported the protests in Buenos Aires and other major cities such as Cordoba — in one of the major protests yet against the austerity measures introduced since Milei took office in December, according to AFP.
Police said that about 100,000 people turned out Tuesday in the capital alone, while organizers put the number at closer to half-a-million — paralyzing the city center for hours on end. A teachers’ union reported a million demonstrators countrywide.
Milei won elections in November 2023, vowing to take a chainsaw to public spending and bring the budget deficit to zero. To that end, his government has cut subsidies for transport, fuel, and energy even as wage-earners have lost a fifth of their purchasing power.
Anti-austerity Demonstrations in Argentina
Anti-austerity Demonstrations in Argentina Thousands of public servants have lost their jobs, and Milei has faced numerous anti-austerity demonstrations. Milei’s government dismissed Tuesday’s demonstrations as “political.”
Universities declared a financial emergency after the government approved a 2024 budget the same as the one for last year, despite annual inflation approaching 290%.
On top of that, higher learning institutions said that a near 500% monthly increase in energy costs has brought them to their knees. As the ire has built, Milei’s government conceded a 70% increase in funding for public universities’ operating expenses in March, to be followed by another 70% in May and a one-off grant to university hospitals.
Operating expenses exclude teacher salaries, which make up about 90% of a university budget.
