MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Police and demonstrators clash outside Argentine Congress

“They want repression for the people, measures for the richest, poverty and misery for the workers,” Belliboni said

Law enforcement officers and demonstrators clashed outside the Congress in Buenos Aires on Wednesday, while the parliamentary debate on President Javier Milei's so-called Omnibus Law bill was taking place inside.

 Federal police and the National Border Guard (Gendarmería Nacional) attempted to enforce Security Minister Patricia Bullrich's anti-picketing protocol as left-wing protesters from Política Obrera, the PTS and the MST opposed the liberal government's proposed reforms. In the incident, traffic was blocked in the streets surrounding the Congress building, despite Bullrich's repeated warnings that legitimate protests should not interfere with the right of others to move freely.

Unidad Piquetera leader Eduardo Belliboni said Milei planned to “take this country back 100 years,” when agro-exporters made Argentina a prosperous place “for a handful of families.”

“We must reject this plan, the legislators must do it, and we must also do it in the streets. We invite all the people to be here and say no to this anti-labor and anti-popular law,” he insisted.

Tensión entre la Policía Federal y los manifestantes luego de que se cortara el tránsito sobre la Avenida Entre Ríos, en el marco del paro nacional y movilización al Congreso convocada por la CGT.

@jotaleonetti pic.twitter.com/xhGtHCB8Rj

— Corta (@somoscorta) January 24, 2024

He also explained that Milei's backtracking on many of the issues in the bill was “a tactic because the main thing is that the delegated powers remain. What is negotiated, especially for the agro-exporting sectors, has been eliminated, but with the delegated powers” it can come back.

“They want repression for the people, measures for the richest, poverty and misery for the workers,” he added.

Demonstrators were pepper-sprayed as police tried to clear the streets. Some protesters said they were beaten according to Bullrich's manual.

“They gassed us, there were journalists from public and international media. They gassed everyone and beat them with sticks. There is no state of siege, I don't know who told Patricia Bullrich that. We have the right to demonstrate. The criminals are in Congress,” Buenos Aires provincial legislator Patricio Del Corro (FIT) told reporters.