Argentine riot police attacked protesters with water cannons to disperse crowds outside Congress, raising tensions before lawmakers are expected to vote on state reform and tax bills proposed by President Javier Milei.
Buenos Aires, Argentina — Argentine riot police on Wednesday attacked protesters with water cannons to disperse crowds outside Congress, raising tensions before lawmakers are expected to vote on state reform and Tax bills proposed by President Javier Milei.
Libertarian Milei’s political opponents, powerful unions and thousands of protesters began converging around Congress early Wednesday as the Senate opened debate on key legislation.
Protesters urged senators to reject Milei’s program of harsh austerity and economic deregulation. Hundreds of police backed by armored vehicles with jammed water cannons blocked the road at the edge of the square in the center of Buenos Aires, the country’s capital. The protesters pushed and shoved the police column.
The vote is the most serious test yet of the libertarian leader’s vision for governance and change.
Milei came to power with the promise that he would solve Argentina’s worst economic crisis in two decades. But his political party, made up of relative newcomers, has only a small minority of seats in Congress and has had difficulty reaching agreements with the opposition.
Senators began debating two bills on Wednesday, a fiscal package that lowers the income tax threshold and a 238-article state reform bill, initially called the “omnibus bill” because of its more than 600 articles.
This watered-down version still delegates broad legislative powers to the president in energy, pensions and security, and includes measures to encourage investment, deregulate the economy and cut the deficit.
Certain sensitive issues, such as the provision of health services by unions and the privatization of Argentina’s national oil company, have been discarded in the hope of reaching a compromise.
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