Hundreds of thousands of students and opponents of President Javier Milei took to the streets of Argentina’s main cities on Wednesday to challenge the fierce adjustment of spending that the Government applied to public universities.
In April, a similar protest with hundreds of thousands of demonstrators forced Milei to review the cut in the university budget, although the authorities of the prestigious study houses – mostly free in Argentina – stated that the Government later did not comply with the promised improvement.
The call for the protest was made after Milei’s radical right management said it would veto a law approved weeks ago by Congress to guarantee university financing in the context of an economic crisis with an annual inflation of 236.7%. .
After the mobilization, a statement from the Office of the President on the social network a specific budget item and threatens fiscal balance”.
The publication targeted legislators and politicians, and reaffirmed its commitment to the National Universities.
“The Government has a systematic, methodical and gradual plan for the destruction of public education,” Ricardo Gelpi, the rector of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), the largest in the country, said in a statement.
The UBA is among the 100 best in the world, according to the QS ranking, and has 110 undergraduate courses, six secondary schools and five public hospitals, whose operations have been affected since the cuts in real terms applied by Milei after taking office in December. .
“The public university, the basis of democracy and social development, fights for its survival,” reads the final document that was read to the crowd by Piera Fernández, head of the Argentine University Federation (FUA).
“We students ask you, in a cry for help to save the system: Enact the university financing law!” says the letter and points out that “it is a mistake to understand what the State allocates as an expense and not as an investment to education, universities and scientific development”.
Fiscal balance is the basis of Milei’s economic plan, although its opponents criticize that the adjustment has not been careful or equitable and ended up harming the most vulnerable layers of society and sensitive sectors such as health and education.
“We would see the problems in the short term but it is also a long-term issue because today the UBA (University of Buenos Aires) closes or the public universities close and you will also have the problem in ten years when you do not have that workforce that you need. to move the economy forward,” said Santiago Fernández, a 23-year-old student at the UBA.
The Government has repeated this year that public universities are sites of “socialist” indoctrination to justify the budget reduction, although it has encountered widespread social resistance due to the recognition that higher education institutions have among Argentines.
“Public university education was never defunded. The Government’s commitment to the public university has remained firm; clarity was simply required in the management of the resources that were transferred,” said the Ministry of Human Capital in a statement. “The march is political.”
According to the UBA – from which five Nobel Prize winners graduated -, the salaries of university teachers and non-teachers have suffered a loss of around 40% of their purchasing value since December, “a figure that continues to deteriorate even more today.” to stay below the poverty line.
“If this law were to be vetoed, the consequences, the truth is, would be very serious because we are talking about the salary of our teachers and non-teachers and of (…) all the extension and research activities that are fundamental would not be guaranteed for the functioning of the university. So let’s hope it doesn’t happen,” said Florencia Rivero, graduate and professor at the UBA.
Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channels YouTube, WhatsApp and to newsletter. Turn on notifications and follow us on Facebook, x and instagram.
Add Comment