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As in other cities, the huge Parliament Square in Buenos Aires filled with thousands of demonstrators as the hours passed.
Published on January 24, 2024 11:03 p.m
Reading time: 1 min
Demonstrators against the austerity reforms of ultra-liberal Argentine President Javier Milei in Cordoba (Argentina), January 24, 2024. (NICOLAS AGUILERA / AFP)
This is the first general strike and major protest for Javier Milei after only a month and a half in power. Tens of thousands of Argentines demonstrated on Wednesday, January 24, against the ultra-liberal Argentine president's austerity reforms. In the capital Buenos Aires, transport, shops and banks functioned normally in the morning. The strike was scheduled to last from 12 p.m. to midnight, but transport was scheduled to run until 7 p.m., transporting and returning protesters before a complete standstill until midnight. Air traffic was affected early on.
The huge parliament square in Buenos Aires filled as the hours passed with thousands of demonstrators at the call of the trade union giant CGT (reportedly 7 million affiliates), a pro-Peronist center (close to the previous government). ), which was joined by other unions, radical left movements and social organizations. In the provinces, including Cordoba, Corrientes, La Rioja and Tucuman, Argentine media reported on demonstrations in which thousands of people took part.
“Eating is not a privilege”
After a month and a half of presidency, an avalanche of deregulation laws, a 54% devaluation and actual or planned austerity measures, “we come to defend 40 years of democracy, to defend the homeland,” he told the crowd. Head of CGT Hector Daer. “Running around with a chainsaw is one thing, governing is another,” which requires “moderation,” he said, taking aim at the head of state. “The homeland is not for sale”, “There is no caste here!”, “Eating is not a privilege”, proclaimed banners and signs to the sound of fireworks and bass drums, with a huge puppet with the likeness of Javier Milei beneath the gaze.
Around 200 people gathered in Paris in solidarity with Argentina. “Argentine workers are facing a government of rare cruelty,” Franco-Uruguayan Nara Cladera of the French trade union Solidaires told AFP. She fears severe “repression” by the Argentine authorities against the strikers. However, no clashes were reported in Buenos Aires after three hours of gathering and as the crowds in Parliament Square began to disperse.