Buenos Aires, Dec 22 (EFE).- Argentina’s streets and parliament have become the two places where President Javier Milei meets firm political, union and social opposition to his urgent need decree (DNU) with which he intends to reform the country’s economy.
Citizens and activists shout slogans during a rally against the economics measures by the government of Argentinian President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 22 December 2023. EFE/Juan Ignacio Roncoroni
On Thursday, just a few hours after thousands of people took to the streets to show their rejection of the libertarian policies of the new government, Milei appeared before Argentinians on a national television network to announce the signing of a decree with more than 300 reforms designed to deregulate the economy and curb the fiscal deficit.
Instead of sending a set of projects to be debated separately, the new president chose to bring them all together in the same decree that does not allow for discussions, only rejection or approval by a National Congress in which the new leader lacks of sufficient political support and is obliged to negotiate with the opposition.
The president now has 10 days to send the decree to parliament, where a Permanent Bicameral Commission will be in charge of processing it. In this commission, which has not yet been established, the Peronists – now in the opposition – will have a majority. But until its parliamentary processing is resolved, the DNU is in force for a period of eight days until Dec. 29.
Milei has warned that legislators who do not support his project will “pay the political price,” but the truth is that the presidents of the Chamber of Deputies, Martín Menem, and of the Senate, Victoria Villarruel, have already entered into conversations with the parliamentary benches. At the same time, Interior Minister Guillermo Francos has initiated contact with opposition legislators.
The government’s strategy, according to local press reports, aims to isolate the supporters of former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and gain support among the rest of the Peronist forces and the Radical Civic Union (UCR). But it is difficult for him, because Milei insists that he does not plan to replace the urgently needed decree with a set of bills, which is the condition set by the opposition.
Meanwhile, social organizations and unions mobilized again Friday in various parts of Argentina against the government’s reform package and held assemblies, strikes and popular soup kitchens.
The Association of State Workers (ATE), the union of public-sector employees from all over Argentina, marched to the headquarters of the Chief of Staff in Buenos Aires, and there were also rallies in front of the Obelisk and the Ministry of Human Capital (formerly Ministry of Social Development).
“It is not up to us to evaluate whether only twelve days have passed since the government took office. We are a union and we have to defend the rights of the workers we represent. Until now we have not heard a single measure in favor of workers and retirees,” denounced ATE Secretary General Rodolfo Aguiar in a statement.
In the capital, protesters surrounded the meeting points from the sidewalks to avoid blocking the street and thus violating the “anti-picketing” protocol established by the Minister of Security Patricia Bullrich. The government minimized the capacity of social and union organizations to convene.
In addition, railway workers on Friday joined protests in the lobby of the Constitución train station, in Buenos Aires, in opposition to the possible privatization of public railways.
The government’s reforms to seek economic stability include everything from termination of labor contracts with the State, to privatization of public companies, to the reform of labor laws, something that the unions flatly reject.
The powerful General Confederation of Labor (CGT), of Peronist inspiration, initially abstained from participating in the protests called by social organizations, but once it weighed the scope of the decree signed by Milei, it called a march for Dec. 27 in which it will demand its repeal.
The CGT, which will present an action in court to annul the DNU, rejects the measures proposed by the executive, which directly impact labor legislation, deregulate broad sectors of economic activity and also reduce the influence and fundraising capacity of unions.
Labor Minister Omar Yasín responded to the unions on Friday, saying that the strike “is a hasty measure.” EFE
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