12/16/2023 5:35 p.m., updated 12/16/2023 5:35 p.m
A group of indigenous people who protested in a square in Buenos Aires, Argentina, were expelled by the police this Saturday (December 16). This was the first measure of the new antiprotest policy defended by recently inaugurated President Javier Milei.
Milei's Minister of Public Safety, Patricia Bullrich, has created a new protocol that bans any protest that blocks streets and avenues, even temporarily.
Police usually diverted traffic to other streets during demonstrations. Now the order is to lift the ban immediately. Participants in this type of protest can be prosecuted and even fined.
This Saturday, members of the Tercer Malon indigenous movement in La Paz were finishing a fourmonth camp in Lavalee Square, in front of the Supreme Court, when they were surprised by police officers.
According to the newspaper Clarín, indigenous people demonstrated against constitutional reform in the province of Jujuy, which is in the north of the country.
Antiprotest protocol
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The police action was seen as the start of Milei's new antiprotest protocol. Security forces claim that there was only an “eviction operation”.
A protest against the new order was planned for December 20th.
This protest ban is an interpretation of existing laws. Therefore, the government saw no need to propose the creation of new legislation on this issue.