The spokesman for the Argentine presidency announced on Friday, December 22, that the organizers of the mandate's first opposition demonstration would have to bear the costs of maintaining order. A painful amount that corresponds to about 70,000 euros.
Opponents on the street hit their wallets. The spokesman for the Argentine presidency announced on Friday December 22 that the organizers of the first rally against the government of ultra-liberal President Javier Milei on Wednesday in Buenos Aires will have to bear the costs associated with the mobilization of security forces on this occasion.
The cost of these expenses, which also includes the mobilization of four security forces – federal police, municipal police, airport police and gendarmerie – was estimated at 60 million pesos, or almost 70,000 euros. It is “the bill that will be forwarded to the social movements,” who will be “asked to take responsibility for these expenses that do not belong to citizens,” spokesman Manuel Adorni added.
A few days after the inauguration of the ultra-liberal president, thousands of people demonstrated in the center of the Argentine capital at the call of left-wing organizations. The demonstrators condemned the government's austerity program and were surrounded by a large security system, which was criticized by organizers. “It reminds me of the dictatorship,” commented Eduardo Belliboni, chairman of the Polo Obrero (Workers' Pole) organization.
An anti-demonstration law is being prepared, and social assistance for demonstrators is also being targeted
The device was personally monitored from the federal police headquarters by the president and his security minister, the former right-wing presidential candidate Patricia Bullrich. “The force deployed will be the bare minimum but proportional to the resistance,” she announced last week, adding that “the bill for this equipment will be sent to the responsible organizations or individuals.” The state will not support this deployment of security forces Pay.” Argentina and especially the greater Buenos Aires area are the scene of hundreds of demonstrations with traffic restrictions every year. Especially in December, a month that is associated in the memory of Argentines with the great demonstrations of 2001, which left 39 dead and half a thousand injured during the sovereign debt crisis.
Patricia Bullrich, returning to the post she already held between 2015 and 2019 under the presidency of the liberal Mauricio Macri, announced a law to prevent “cuts, pickets and blockades” that affect activity and “affect Argentines prevent us from living in peace.” The new protocol envisages increasing the radius of action of the police, who would intervene in the event of any road closures to clear traffic areas. “It is more than a restriction on the use of police force, it is an authorization to exercise violence against demonstrators,” who are therefore “criminalized,” condemned the Center for Social and Legal Studies (CELS) on December 14, announcing this innovation Security protocol.
Her colleague Sandra Pettovello, Minister of Human Capital, warned earlier this week a short message sent on his X account (formerly Twitter) that “those who cut off roads do not get paid” and specifically target “the beneficiaries of social plans”. In other words: No social assistance for the demonstrators. According to the Social Observatory of the Catholic University of Argentina, 40.1% of the country's population is poor, while one in two residents receives some form of government assistance, either directly or through an organization.