Yesterday, Tuesday, Javier Gerardo Milei's government experienced its worst popular rebuke. It did not come from the unions, retirees, dismissed, or truck drivers, but from the always inflammable and decisive student movement. When, from Cuba, I approach the Argentine reality, intentionally I do it through LN+. It is a TV channel where an explicit pro-Milei narrative prevails, constructed by very seasoned journalists. Aware of that fact, I critically assimilate its contents and get—or I think I get—a clear reading of what is happening in Argentina. Yesterday, in particular, this approach was even more revealing for me.
The trigger
The strong fiscal adjustment promoted by the mileísta Pink House compromised the functioning of universities, which translates into fewer scholarships, salary irregularities, and even power cuts. "We want to state clearly that the financial-economic situation that the public university system is going through is serious and needs an urgent response from the national government. The universities have talked with different representatives of the Executive Power in these first one hundred days of government and we have raised in detail the complex situation of the system", denounced the rectors of the national universities in a communiqué a week ago. The reduction of the budget allocated to higher education is estimated at 72%. So this Tuesday, tens of thousands of students mobilized with such force that they must have literally made the owner of the Rivadavia's chair tremble. Below I share three images of the demonstration obtained via X.
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My take
I must admit that even the LN+ journalist claque opposed the freezing of funding for public higher education. They also acknowledged something I have commented on several times here: Milei understands that the battle he has to fight comes down to macroeconomics. "The truth is that the macro economy is starting to show results, but it will be urgent that this spills over to the microeconomy because social tensions are just around the corner", said an expert associated with banking. The liberal leader seems to be developing a doctoral thesis in which he must prove that "inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon that arises from an excess supply of money that causes the purchasing power of the currency to fall, and with it, all prices expressed in local currency units rise".
Once the financial report tells Milei that inflation is down and the economy is growing—a moment I certainly hope will come at some point for the sake of Argentines—the president will have won his battle. But will pensions be decent? Will the problem of poverty and destitution have been solved? Will there be representative university coverage in terms of quantity and quality? What's next for Milei? "It's the daily anxiety [to get inflation down to single digits]. [Milei's responsibility] with society exceeds that fight", whipped the influential economist Carlos Melconian in an interview with Luis Novaresio, one of the few who lands clean and technical punches at a Milei very vocal and prepotent with his critics.
Screenshot of the LN+ live broadcast via Youtube. Here you have economist Carlos Melconian, at left, being interviewed by Luis Novaresio late yesterday. Returning to the students' demonstration, many of those interviewed by Esteban Trebucq at LN+ pointed to how the Government freezes funds for their institutes but spends millions of dollars to buy a score of F-16 fighter jets. These items are not urgent in Argentina's current context, except for the libertarian administration to confirm its ideological alignment with the United States, and give a nod to the Armed Forces. See, Trebucq applauded and reinforced some positions adopted by the young—for sure, those that corresponded to the editorial line of the media—, but he ignored that one above outright.
The pro-Milei press put the responsibility for this "bad day" on the super-minister of human capital, particularly on a direct subordinate of hers. The argument is that they made the "mistake" of picking a fight with the "wrong" adversary—the students—, and let a fire grow that has already burned Milei's feet. The President is so deeply involved in the fight for the macroeconomy that he ends up delegating—or rather forgetting?—his responsibilities in such an important issue like education, which on the other hand seems to be managed by people incapable or wanting to damage his image. Then, Sandra Petovello is the scapegoat, the piece to be sacrificed so as not to tarnish the head of La Libertad Avanza.
Adjusted to Milei's narrative that everything is a consequence of the inheritance of the previous government, the diligent journalists of LN+ shared statements of Cristina Fernández—taken out of context—and appealed to other archival materials of the ill-fated government of Alberto Fernández. In such a sense, they referred to the fact that Sergio Massa, the former Minister of Economy and loser of the runoff with Milei, also made adjustments to the education budget, and that in general there was a downward correction during Alberto's administration. And it is true, but it is unfair and biased that they do not expose that the Casa Rosada at the time was forced to act in that way pressured by a debt with the IMF, that, by the way, they inherited from Mauricio Macri.
In the following days, Buenos Aires will continue to provide events that will be subject to analysis. The laws and regulations introduced by Milei in Congress are still pending, while the unions are getting ready for new demonstrations due to layoffs and non-compliance with certain salary commitments. We will keep an eye on these issues.
And this is all for our report today. I have referenced the sources dynamically in the text, and remember you can learn how and where to follow the LATAM trail news by reading my work here. Have a nice day.
