Hundreds of thousands of Argentinians take to the streets against education cuts

NOS News•today, 05:38

Hundreds of thousands of Argentines have taken to the streets in several cities to protest against cuts to the country’s free public universities by President Milei’s government.

At least 100,000 people protested in the capital Buenos Aires alone, the police said. According to the organizers of the protests, half a million people turned out. A teachers union reported that a million people were protesting across the country.

After taking office in December, Milei implemented major cuts in various areas, including higher education. For example, budgets were not adjusted or reduced, despite enormous inflation.

As a result, many universities are now in financial need; Universities say they will only be able to function for a few more months, because the money will then simply run out. According to a recent survey, about 2.2 million people study in the country’s public universities.

Images of the protests:

Tuesday’s protests were among the largest since Milei came to power.

His government has cut subsidies for transport, fuel and energy, among other things, causing Argentines to lose a fifth of their purchasing power. Thousands of civil servants have lost their jobs. Nearly 60 percent of the population now lives below the poverty line.

“We defend the public, free and free university, which is one of the great achievements of our people. We will not give that up,” said 92-year-old Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1980 for his efforts for human rights when dictator Videla was in power in Argentina.

“We defend our right to a dignified life,” Pérez Esquivel continued in front of Milei’s work palace in Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires.

Milei claimed in a speech yesterday that his policy is actually positive for Argentina; he reported that his country was able to report a quarterly budget surplus for the first time in fifteen years. According to Milei, that was a milestone to be proud of.

He also told “all Argentinians” that he understood the “difficult situation”. Milei: “But I also want to say that we are already over half way. This is the last phase of a heroic effort that we Argentinians are making, and for the first time in a long time this effort will be worth it.”