Argentines March Against Milei’s Budget Cuts to Universities

April 23, 2024 Hour: 10:57 am

On Tuesday, university students, professors, workers, and human rights defenders marched in defense of public education and in rejection of the budget cuts to universities that the far-right President Javier Milei is carrying out.

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Under the slogan “In defense of free public university,” Argentinians held protest events across the country. In Buenos Aires, citizens began a march at 3:30 PM from the Congress to Mayo Square, the iconic site of Argentine social struggle located in front of the Pink House, the government headquarters.

Oscar Alpa, the vice president of the National Interuniversity Council (CIN), explained that the budget cuts will leave Argentine universities with less than 50 percent of the resources needed to cover maintenance costs of facilities.

This implies the halt of all infrastructure projects that universities undertake on their campuses. He also mentioned that the Milei administration is delaying the call for the scholarship system, which allows students in vulnerable situations to start or continue their university studies.

Miles de estudiantes argentinos se quedan a dormir en su facultad en defensa de las universidades públicas.
En Ciudad Universitaria contra la política neoliberal del ultraderechista #Milei
Hay lucha, hay esperanza!#UniversidadPublica #UniversidadPublicaSiempre
Vamos #Argentina!! pic.twitter.com/EuJ2zmJukg

— Manel Márquez �� (@manelmarquez)
April 23, 2024

The text reads, “Thousands of Argentine students stay the night in their faculty in defense of public universities. In the University City, there is struggle and hope against far-right Milei’s neoliberal policy.”

Carlos de Feo, the secretary of the National Federation of University Professors (CONADU), stated that the defense of free public university is the main reason for the protests.

Ongoing budget cuts affect 57 university institutions, over 250,000 teachers and administrative staff, and involve 2.5 million students.

As a result of an economic crisis being exacerbated by unstoppable inflation, the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) recently declared a “budgetary emergency” and warned that it can only function for a few months.

A similar situation is occurring in all public universities. While the Milei administration allocated the same amount of funding to universities as they received in 2023, an inflation rate exceeding 90 percent is depleting public resources for education.

#FromTheSouth News Bits | Argentina submitted a formal request to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to become a “global partner” of the alliance. pic.twitter.com/eOA8WdRFDt

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish)
April 19, 2024