Argentinian repressive forces assault protestors in front of the Congress on Wednesday, June 12, 2024. Photo: AFP.
On Wednesday, Argentina’s police violently repressed demonstrations held in the streets of Buenos Aires against the Law of Bases that is being discussed in the Senate.
This Wednesday, June 12, the site of Argentina’s Congress became a battlefield upon which protesters and security forces clashed during the afternoon. Thousands of activists from social, political, and union organizations, along with some opposition deputies, gathered early in the morning around Congress to express their condemnation of the “Law of Bases and Starting Points for the Freedom of Argentinians.” Through this law, the libertarian and far-right administration of newly elected President Javier Milei seeks a radical restructuring of the state to promote a neoliberal economic model based on the reduction of state interventionism and the promotion of private initiative in keeping with the mandates of the Washington, DC-based International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Enforcing the anti-riot protocol designed by Milei’s minister of security, Patricia Bullrich, hundreds of police officers were deployed in the area, which was fenced to prevent access to the doors of the legislative precinct and keep protesters on the sidewalks.
Among the injured were five deputies from Union for the Homeland party who were among the protesters. All of them were transferred to the Santa Lucía Hospital.
Below is a photo gallery with pictures by the AFP news agency, and Leandro Teysseire, taken from the Argentinian news outlet Pagina 12.
To deal with the protesters, the government instructed the security forces to implement a protocol that prevents cuts to vehicular traffic and seeks to ensure freedom of movement. To achieve this, the repressive forces push the protesters to the sidewalks. The police also used riot squads, water cannon trucks, pepper spray, gas canisters, and rubber bullets in what was clearly an excessive use of force.
Throughout the morning, while the discussions continue in the Senate, there were moments of tension between the police and the protesters when the Police have used their shields to force back the demonstrators.
The number of people in the Plaza de los Dos Congresos grew as the day progressed. Representatives of the social movements declared to the press that they did not seek confrontation and considered the police deployment “excessive” and “provocative.”
The main fear of social and union organizations is the impact that the Law of Bases could have on labor rights, as well as the eventual suppression of welfare policies that protect the most vulnerable sectors of the country afflicted by several years of economic crisis deepened by the arrival of Milei.
(Últimas Noticias) with Orinoco Tribune content.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SL
