Raising their textbooks, diplomas and posters aloft, thousands of people on Tuesday filled the streets of Buenos Aires and other cities in Argentina to demand increased funding for the country’s public universities, in an outpouring of anger at Argentine President Javier Milei’s austerity measures.
The scale of the demonstration in downtown Buenos Aires appeared to exceed other massive demonstrations that have rocked the capital since Milei took office.
Students and professors coordinated with the country’s trade unions and opposition political parties to push back against budget cuts that have forced Argentina’s most venerable university to declare a financial emergency and warn of imminent closure.
Photo: AP
“It is historic,” said Ariana Thiele Lara, a 25-year-old recent graduate at the protest in the capital. “It feels like we were all united.”
Describing universities as bastions of socialism where professors indoctrinate their students, Milei has tried to dismiss the university budget crisis as politics as usual.
“The cognitive dissonance that brainwashing generates in public education is tremendous,” he said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
At the University of Buenos Aires, halls went dark, elevators froze and air-conditioning stopped working in some buildings last week. Professors taught 200-person lectures without microphones or projectors because the public university could not cover its electricity bill.
“It’s an unthinkable crisis,” said Valeria Anon, a 50-year-old literature professor at the university. “I feel so sad for my students, and for myself as professor and researcher.”
In his drive to reach zero deficit, Milei is slashing spending across Argentina — shuttering ministries, defunding cultural centers, laying off state workers and cutting subsidies.
On Monday he had something to show for it, announcing Argentina’s first quarterly fiscal surplus since 2008 and promising the public that the pain would pay off.
“We are making possible the impossible even with the majority of politics, unions, the media and most economic actors against us,” he said in a televised address.
However, the protests started on Tuesday.
“Why are you so scared of public education?” banners asked.
“The university will defend itself,” students shouted.
“We are trying to show the government it cannot take away our right to education,” Santiago Ciraolo, a 32-year-old student in social communication, said at a protest on Tuesday. “Everything is at stake here.”
Since July last year, when the fiscal year began, the state has provided the University of Buenos Aires with just 8.9 percent of its total budget as annual inflation now hovers near 290 percent.
The university says that is barely enough to keep lights on and provide basic services in teaching hospitals that have already cut capacity.
The university last week said that without a rescue plan, it would shut down in the coming months, stranding 380,000 students mid-degree.
“I’ve been given access to a future, to opportunities through this university that otherwise my family and many others at our income level could never afford,” said Alex Vargas, a 24-year-old economics student. “When you step back, you see how important this is for our society.”
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