The first major protest against Miley in Argentina

In Argentina, thousands of people gathered in Buenos Aires on Wednesday to participate in the first major protest demonstration against the economic measures announced by the new government of Javier Miley, the extreme liberal and far-right economist who won the country’s recent presidential elections. Country. A few days after taking power, Miley’s government announced some rather radical measures, such as the devaluation of the peso and significant cuts in public spending, which it covered extensively during an eccentric and extreme election campaign: it led protest groups that represented mostly the unemployed. The work was done relatively peacefully.

Miley was elected at a time when Argentina was still going through a very serious economic crisis, with inflation reaching 147 percent and poverty widespread. Among other things, his government said it would devalue the Argentine currency, the peso, against the US dollar by 50 percent, and also limit energy and transportation subsidies.

The demonstrators participated in a procession I headed towards Plaza de Mayo, the main square of the city, which is located in front of Casa Rosada, the headquarters of the Argentine president and his government. Eduardo Piliponi, leader of the left-wing protest group Polo Obrero, told a local radio station that the demonstration was organized peacefully and that participants did not want “any kind of confrontation.” At the beginning of the demonstration, clashes took place between the police and some demonstrators, which ended with the arrest of two people. The entire procession was guarded by riot police. Right now, it’s unclear how many people participated, but the arena was about half full.

Before the end of the demonstration, organizers called on the country’s main trade unions to call a general strike in protest. Meanwhile, in a speech broadcast on radio and television, Miley announced about 300 new interventions that he said would be “the first steps towards rebuilding the country.” Among other things, he talked about privatizing state-owned enterprises, liberalizing the mining sector, removing export limits and reducing protections for renting people and companies.

The new president’s government said it would allow protests, but also threatened that anyone who participated would risk losing their right to state benefits. Security Minister Patricia Bullrich also announced a new “protocol” aimed at maintaining public order and expanding police powers, and some groups viewed it as an attempt to criminalize protests.

(AP Photo/Mario De Fina)

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