‘Lives at stake’: Argentine Senate approves Milei’s reforms as protests increase | Protest news

Argentina’s upper house narrowly approved a controversial bill key to libertarian President Javier Milei’s economic reform plans, as thousands of protesters clashed with police in the streets.

Senators voted 37 to 36 on Wednesday night to give provisional approval to the plan, embarking on an all-night marathon that lasted until the next day before voting on each article in the package, which includes radical measures on privatizations and tax benefits for investors.

The Senate was split down the middle on the project, which ended up being decided by a tie-breaking vote from the head of the chamber, Vice President Victoria Villaruel.

“Today there are two Argentinas”, said Villarruel at the session. “A violent Argentina that sets fire to a car, throws stones and debates the exercise of democracy, and another Argentina with workers waiting with great pain and sacrifice for the change they voted for.”

As senators voted, thousands of protesters took to the streets, burning cars and throwing Molotov cocktails as hundreds of federal security forces retreated with tear gas and water cannon fire.

Seven people, including five lawmakers, were treated in hospital after being pepper sprayed, according to the Ministry of Health. Dozens of others received medical care at the scene.

At least 10 people were detained and nine police officers were injured, according to a spokesperson for the Ministry of Security, cited by the AFP news agency.

‘Anarcho-capitalist’

The vote gave a big boost to Milei, a self-proclaimed “anarcho-capitalist” whose efforts to reform the government and economy met fierce resistance in Argentina’s opposition-dominated Congress, which he dubbed a “rat’s nest.”

A political outsider with just two years of experience as a legislator, his three-year-old party, Liberty Advances, holds just 15% of the seats in the House of Representatives and 10% in the Senate.

“Tonight is a triumph for the Argentine people and the first step towards recovering our greatness,” Milei posted on X, calling his projects “the most ambitious legislative reform of the last 40 years.”

The bill is key to Milei’s plans to reform a troubled economy. The executive measures imposed so far, which include reducing subsidies and laying off thousands of public sector employees, have deepened the recession, increased poverty to 55 percent and caused an annual increase in inflation of 300 percent.

Lawmakers on the right and left have clashed over several parts of the 238-article reform bill, which includes declaring a year-long state of economic emergency, allowing Milei to dissolve federal agencies and the privatization of about a dozen public companies.

Other measures deal with reducing access to minimum retirement benefits and weakening labor protections – criticized by left-wing opponents as a license to fire workers.

The provisions also provide for tax, customs and exchange incentives to encourage investment in the country hit by the economic crisis.

Before the bill’s preliminary approval in the Senate, opposition lawmakers took the floor claiming it would reverse decades of progress.

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

The project was approved by the Chamber of Deputies in April. If approved in a full vote by the Senate, the measure will return to the Chamber for a final green light.

The measure is opposed by a wide range of society, including social organizations, left-wing political parties, retired people, teachers and unions.

Protesters fear the law will leave them even more exposed to rising unemployment and consumer prices.

“The lives of the Argentine people are at stake,” said protester and social leader Luis D’Elia. “This poison has failed several times in Argentina and we will not allow this to continue.”

Miriam Rajovitcher, a 54-year-old teacher, said that if the law were passed, she would lose many of her work and pension rights. “I’m much worse,” she said.