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Thousands of Argentines have taken to the streets in Buenos Aires in recent days to protest against the new president's extensive deregulation law.
Published on December 28, 2023 7:40 p.m
Reading time: 2 minutes
Thousands of Argentines demonstrated here in Buenos Aires at the end of December against the first measures of the new ultra-liberal President Javier Milei. (LUIS ROBAYO / AFP)
Fifteen days after coming to power, the new Argentine President Javier Milei is encountering resistance. In addition to marches by trade unions and social organizations, spontaneous demonstrations by Argentinians against the measures announced by Milei are becoming increasingly common. The latter wants to massively deregulate the country's economy, with privatizations, layoffs in the public sector, liberalization of prices and a devaluation of the currency.
In protest, Argentines go out onto their balconies or downstairs and simply make noise. They generally hit a pan with a spatula or spoon, a form of protest that began during the 2001 economic crisis. Back then, the empty pan was a symbol of lack. Since then, when people feel the need to express themselves spontaneously, they tap their pots. And for a week now, this repetitive metallic sound has echoed every day in different neighborhoods of the capital, Buenos Aires, as a sign of discontent.
These protests may be surprising considering that Argentines have just elected Javier Milei, a trained economist who claims to be an “anarcho-capitalist.” The new president was also very open-hearted during the election campaign and promised a liberal revolution from the start. Of course, among the Argentinians on the street there are also those who did not vote for him. But there were also those who thought he wouldn't do everything he promised during the election campaign. Finally, others think that the president is going too fast and, above all, too far.
Rent deregulation and free sale of medicines
In addition to these protests, the week was particularly intense at the political level, as Javier Mirei signed an emergency decree amending 300 laws. On Wednesday, December 27, he introduced a 350-page bill in Parliament that contained two things in parallel. On the one hand, the emergency decree that will come into force on Friday December 29, pending the final decision of Parliament. The advantage of an emergency decree for the president is that it is first implemented and then discussed. The measures in this text include rent set freely by the owners, the sale of medicines in any establishment without the compulsory presence of a pharmacist or even the acquisition of land free of charge.
And on the other hand, there is this “mega-bill,” as it is called in Argentina, with 664 articles to work on. To this end, Javier Milei convened Parliament for an extraordinary session to debate this text, which aims at a complete deregulation of the economy and a transformation of the state structure. The project envisages, for example, restricting the right to strike, expanding self-defense, particularly in favor of the police, or privatizing 41 public companies.
These shock measures therefore outrage some Argentines. But a large part of the residents continue to support Milei, who, thanks to his election victory with 11 points more than his rival, wasted no time in implementing all these deregulations.