This June 22, protests were carried out in Argentina due to the repression that took place two days before in the northern province of Jujuy, on the border with Bolivia. The clashes on Tuesday between demonstrators and police left more than 110 injured and more than 40 arrested, and generated international reactions as well as tensions in local politics.
First modification:
The protests in Jujuy began on June 5, with two fundamental axes. On the one hand, to demonstrate against the proposed reform of the provincial constitution and on the other, to demand better teacher salaries. The mobilizations this Thursday had their epicenter in the province of Jujuy, but were replicated in different parts of the country, such as in the capital.
“We want Gerardo Morales to resign”
Indeed, around a hundred people demonstrated this Thursday in front of a fence placed 50 meters from the Casa de Jujuy, the representation of the province in the capital, Buenos Aires. On the fence were posters that condemned the repression, questioned the constitutional reform, and blamed the governor of Jujuy, Gerardo Morales, for what had happened.
Waving a wipala, the seven-color Andean flag, was Gloria Toledo, from Jujuy and a descendant of indigenous peoples. “We want to ask that Gerardo Morales reform, who made it illegally, with his back to the people of Jujuy, come down. Let’s hope that nothing more serious happens than what has already happened. But we want Gerardo Morales to resign, because he does not deserve to be where he is. Because the people put it there and the people have to get it out,” he told RFI.
With a view to the elections
In 2023 there are presidential elections in Argentina, and what happens in Jujuy is also read based on that dispute. For the national ruling party of the Peronist alliance Unión por la Patria, it is a kind of warning of what will happen at the country level if the opposition wins the elections and uses repression to implement unpopular reforms.
In turn, the opposition Juntos por el Cambio, to which Governor Morales belongs, says that what will happen is that the Unión por la Patria will promote constant pressure on the streets that will jeopardize its ability to govern.
