Argentina’s universities march in defense of public education

“The era of the current state is over,” Argentinian President Javier Meily declared on Monday, adding that for him the role of the state should be limited to “the defense of life, liberty and property.” A day later, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across the country to respond with historic demonstrations in defense of free public universities, a pillar of the Argentine state that today is being questioned by the far-right government And he is being defamed.

In the Argentine capital, groups of students, professors and workers gathered at the Argentine Congress after passing through the Barrio Norte, an upper class area, where some of the main faculties of the University of Buenos Aires are located: that of medicine. , Economics, Law and Engineering. Marching down Azcuenaga Street, still away from Congress, protesters sang Argentina’s national anthem amid applause and horns from some curious spectators waiting on the sidewalk.

By afternoon, the demonstration had ended peacefully, with Congress Square packed. The government said a few days ago that it does not rule out activating its protocols to suppress road blockades, but the city police remain on the sidelines in a prudent background.

Medical students came to Congress wearing gowns and singing that education should be public and for the children of workers; Teachers arrived waving books ranging from Constitution to Constitution complete stories by Jorge Luis Borges or complete the task by Sigmund Freud; Economics students gathered at their faculty with many signs in the air. “Study, don’t be Miley,” “Public education is freedom,” “Why are you so afraid to educate people?” Some of them said. Among the hundreds of participants, a girl had written a message on a piece of cardboard: “They made you believe you live in a dirty country so you won’t defend it when they destroy it.”

At around five in the afternoon, the troops began marching towards the Casa Rosada, the headquarters of the government. Many did not succeed in entering the Plaza de Mayo. The main roads collapsed and progress became impossible. Without leaving the spot, the protesters raised slogans in defense of education and against Miley. Those who arrived late were unable to communicate with those who were there: due to congestion the mobile phone network stopped working and it was necessary to walk several blocks away to recover the signal.

The government tried to discredit the protests in every possible way. Miley first accused the teachers and students of the University of Buenos Aires, the most prestigious in the country, of providing education and also attacked all public education. Holding him responsible for “brainwashing” the students., Later, he said it was a march “encouraged by politics”, while his security minister, Patricia Bullrich, warned of possible actions of provocation and did not rule out implementing repression protocols including road closures.

Argentine society was immune to official messages. This march on Tuesday was one of the biggest marches in the last 20 years of democracy. Under the slogan “In defense of the public university”, marches were recorded in more than twenty cities. Universities took to the streets against the government’s brutal budget cuts. Their funding is roughly the same as in 2023, but in a country with inflation of 288% year-on-year, the actual shortfall is closer to 70%. Some faculties have started to hold classes in the dark or on public streets and others have warned that the heating will not be turned on except in very low temperatures, but this is insufficient: most have the second semester and face the danger of Due to lack of resources, closure is becoming more and more real.

The executive announced last week that it had reached an agreement with higher education centers to increase their budgets for administrative expenses between March and April, but rectors of many of them have said the problem is withholding teachers’ salaries. represent the majority of the budget.

“This is a march that no one joins in a sad and distressed way, we are not happy,” Ricardo Gelpi, rector of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), said a few hours before it began. Gelpi defended the ideological pluralism of an independent university that has more than 300,000 students and which leads the rankings in Latin America in many subjects. Gelpi responded to Miley on Radio Rivadavia, “With all due respect, the preaching thing seems a bit ridiculous to me.”

The rector of the UBA reminded that the mobilization will be led by the universities, but “it is not in their power to prevent the political, or non-political, part of society from taking part.” His words were addressed to those who try to link this demonstration to Peronism because of the expected participation of some leaders, such as former presidential candidate Sergio Massa. The leaders of the radical Civic Union and even ruling party ally Pro have defended public education this Tuesday.

The universities’ budget cuts are part of drastic adjustments made by Miley to achieve fiscal surplus. The numbers have quadrupled – and Argentina’s stocks have soared while the country’s risk appetite has shrunk – slashing superannuation, halting public works, laying off public workers and leaving public health and education systems on the brink of collapse. at cost.

The decline extends to all educational levels. The government eliminated the Teacher Incentive Fund with which provinces paid part of the salaries of public school teachers. In parallel, it launched a financial assistance scheme for parents who send their children to private schools.

Frequent transfers of resources in higher education are more complex. In Argentina, public university is seen as one of the last opportunities for social mobility for Argentina’s lower and middle class, which has become impoverished after successive economic crises and more than a decade of stagnation. Miley has maintained high popularity, around 50%, which has suffered little from the adjustment. However, the attack on the public university has touched a sensitive nerve and awakened resistance unprecedented heretofore.

Subscribe to the EL PAÍS América newsletter here and receive all the important information on current events in the region.

,