Argentina: Thousands of Scientists Protest Milei’s Neoliberal Adjustment

On May 28, thousands of scientists, academics, and students protested in Argentina against the critical situation facing the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET). The protests followed the announcement by the neoliberal government of Javier Milei to cut the state budget for scientific research (from 0.3% of GDP to 0.15%). The mobilizations took place in several cities across the South American country.

The demonstrations were called by the Association of State Workers (ATE) of CONICET under the slogan “No one saves themselves alone. Without workers there is no science, without science there is no future.” The ATE denounced the precarity of the science sector in Argentina due to the lack of funding. They argue that low salaries, lack of supplies, and the halting of projects forces talented researchers to migrate out of the country or seek employment with private companies.

According to Telesur, “11% of Conicet’s administrative staff was reportedly laid off, along with a reduction of 1,291 workers, including 46% of doctoral and postdoctoral fellows. In addition, there was a 24% increase in resignations among members of the Scientific and Technological Researcher Career (CIC) and a 46% increase in administrative staff resignations.”

In addition, the purchasing power of scientists dependent on CONICET has reportedly been reduced by 35% since December 2023.

“No one saves themselves alone”
The huge success in Argentina and Latin America of the Netflix series called “El Eternauta” (based on the comic by Héctor Oesterheld, an Argentine screenwriter who was disappeared along with his family during the last military dictatorship) has inspired thousands of Argentines to recover one of the famous phrases of the series. Scientists of CONICET called for mobilizations, remembering Oesterheld: “The murder of science advances. So does the resistance. No one saves themselves alone.” Dozens of scientists who marched through the streets wore masks, costumes, and other props related to the series, “El Eternauta”.

The reference is no accident. The series talks about the collective struggle in the face of a sort of winter apocalypse, something that the Argentine opposition has compared to Milei’s neoliberal and libertarian project, which seeks to destroy any hint of collective struggle in a society historically defined by collective struggles, including the struggles that made CONICET, one of the most important scientific institutions in Latin America today.

The 18th Brumaire of Javier Milei

About the mobilization of May 28, Sol Martínez Allende, General Secretary of ATE CONICET told Barricada TV: “It was a great day of struggle. There were marches in different parts of the country. Conicet workers mobilized en masse. In the face of the bleak panorama today gives us a great boost… [Milei’s Government] is a government that came to do this: to destroy the state. It is a government that does not believe in national sovereignty and has very close contacts with the United States and Israel. It is servile to those interests.”

Gonzalo Sanz, Deputy Secretary of ATE CONICET said, “the theme became reality, and it was reflected in a great collective effort.”

He described a weeks-long process where colleagues and workers from different institutions in over 15 cities across the country worked together to make masks, paint posters, and plan their interventions. “It was truly this idea that the solution is collective. That was seen on this day of struggle. I think this is one of the most positive things that came out of today’s event.”

Elaborating on the organization’s perspective on the solution to the budget adjustment, Sanz said:

“Milei is receiving support from international financial organizations, particularly through the Trump administration in the United States. There is domestic political support, international political support … behind this adjustment. So, not only do we have to mobilize because it’s the only tool we know … but also because the response to this is political.”