Violent protests in Argentina as Javier Milei succeeds in imposing reforms on shock therapy

Inside congress, senators were debating what remained of Milei’s flagship reform bill, which was rejected in its original form and approved with major changes by the lower house in April.

The reduced bill has 238 articles, compared to more than 600 initially.

The measures include declaring a year-long state of economic emergency, allowing Milei to dissolve federal agencies and privatizing a dozen state-owned companies, including state-owned airline Aerolineas Argentina.

Other measures aim to reduce access to minimum retirement benefits and weaken labor protections – criticized by left-wing opponents as a license to fire workers.

Before the bill’s preliminary approval by the Senate, opposition lawmakers spoke out, saying it would reverse decades of progress.

Mariano Recalde, an opposition senator, said labor reforms, in particular, “take us back to the last century, where employees had no labor rights.”

This measure meets opposition from social organizations, left-wing political parties, retirees, teachers and unions.

Fabio Nunez, a 55-year-old lawyer among the protesters, said: “We cannot believe that in Argentina we are discussing a law that will take us back 100 years. »

Minority in Congress

Milei’s party is in the minority in both houses of Congress, which he has called a “rat’s nest,” and the president has not passed any legislation since taking office last December.

The self-proclaimed “anarcho-capitalist” won the country’s November elections by pledging to cut public spending and eliminate the budget deficit.

By decree, he halved the government, eliminated 50,000 public jobs, suspended new public works contracts and eliminated fuel and transport subsidies, even as employees lost a fifth of their purchasing power and that annual inflation was approaching 300 percent.

Luis Caputo, Argentina’s economy minister, insisted Tuesday that the bill is “an accelerator, a catalyst for economic recovery.”

The debate takes place as the economy is mired in recession, amid a slowdown in construction, manufacturing and consumption.