Violent protests have erupted on the streets of Buenos Aires as Argentina’s Senate debates a critical bill advancing President Javier Milei’s economic reforms.
Thousands of protesters gathered near the domed Congress building on Wednesday to demonstrate against the proposed austerity measures in the comprehensive bill.
The day began peacefully with street barbecues, picketing, and protest songs. However, tensions escalated in the afternoon as the debate inside Congress intensified.
Riot police equipped with helmets, batons, and clear plastic shields arrived to disperse the crowds. They used tear gas, rubber bullets, and water cannons on the bundled protesters enduring the winter cold.
Local media reported that several opposition lawmakers among the crowd, including Juan Manuel Pedrini, were taken to a nearby hospital to treat burns to their eyes and skin.
“A sad day for Argentinian democracy,” said the Union for the Homeland, a Peronist political party representing the opposition, on social media. They expressed “absolute repudiation of the repression perpetrated by the police.”
Milei’s government, meanwhile, highlighted the violent tactics allegedly used by some protesters as the afternoon progressed.
Officials reported that 18 people were detained after incidents of rock-throwing and the use of sticks as weapons. A car belonging to the radio station Cadena 3 was also set on fire.
Waldo Wolff, the minister of justice and security for Buenos Aires, stated that one person was even found “with a grenade.”
“The culture of violence that sets the pace for demonstrations is at an end,” he wrote on the social media platform X. “In addition to the 18 detained, we are going to take the images to the justice system so that everyone who broke sidewalks [and] burned cars and trash cans will pay.”
President Milei’s administration accused the demonstrators of attempting to overthrow the government and disrupt Congress’s proceedings.
“We went to protect Congress, and they responded with stones and fire,” Security Minister Patricia Bullrich said on X.
The executive office also praised the armed forces for their actions in repressing the “terrorist groups” that attempted to perpetrate a coup d’état using sticks, stones, and grenades.
The bill at the center of the unrest, known as the “Ley de Bases” or “Law of Bases,” is key to advancing Milei’s libertarian agenda, aiming to privatize public companies, increase executive powers, and boost the economy.
Argentina faces soaring annual inflation, currently at nearly 300 percent, leading to rising poverty levels. Milei argues that his austerity measures will control inflation and the country’s sovereign debt, but critics warn that the steep cuts could exacerbate the situation.
The bill passed the lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, in late April after months of negotiations and a failed vote in February. However, it faces greater challenges in the opposition-controlled Senate. The Peronist Union for the Homeland holds 33 of the chamber’s 72 seats, compared to seven for Milei’s La Libertad Avanza party.
