Argentine demonstration over education cuts ends in clashes

Argentine demonstrators clashed with police on Thursday at a major protest in Buenos Aires over budget-slashing in president Javier Milei’s higher education spending.

The main demonstration outside parliament by thousands of university students and staff, trade unionists and opposition activists remained peaceful.

But dozens of mostly hooded demonstrators who broke away from the crowd lobbed stones and other projectiles at the police, who responded with tear gas and water cannons.

The clashes last around an hour.

“Let’s occupy the streets, like in France!” a placard waved by one young female demonstrator urged, referring to the ongoing mass protests in that country for better classroom conditions.

Victoria Coronel, a student at the University of Matanza in Buenos Aires province, echoed some of the French students’ grievances, including “broken things don’t get fixed” and teachers leaving the profession because of low salaries.

Thursday’s protest was the fifth over the education funding crisis since Milei took power in late 2023.

It comes after multiple court rulings ordering the government to comply with a 2025 law that requires him to plow more money into public universities.

Security minister Alejandra Monteoliva accused the protesters of “wanting to sow chaos”.

“The right to protest is not a right to exercise violence,” she declared on X.

Libertarian Milei came to office on a promise to revive Argentina’s ailing economy and tame runaway inflation by shrinking the welfare state.

He has dramatically reduced inflation through deep cuts to public spending, which have affected public hospitals, universities and pensioners in particular.

The president, who has bet his mandate on balanced budgets, had justified his vetoes of inflation-linked spending increases by arguing that “there is no money” to fund them.

Public spending on universities fell by 41% in real terms in the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2023, according to the Center for National Economic Research of the University of Buenos Aires.

The 2025 University Funding Law calls for inflation-linked salary increases dated to December 2023, as well as the restoration of student scholarships and more funding for university operations.

It was adopted by Congress, only to be vetoed by Milei in a decision that was later overruled by parliament.

The government has never implemented the law, despite various court rulings, including a Supreme Court decision in June, ordering it to do so.

“We are demanding that they pay us what they owe us,” Francisca Staiti, general secretary of the teachers’ union Conadu Historica told AFP.

Presidential spokesman Adrian Ravier said on Tuesday that the law was “suspended” while the government pursued legal action.

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