Good Aires:Retirees marched in Buenos Aires on Wednesday, protesting against Argentine President Javier Milei’s planned veto of a bill passed last week by the Congress increase the minimum pension.
Police used batons and pepper spray against protesters trying to block a road.
Last week, Argentina’s Senate approved a law to increase retirement benefits by more than 8%.
The ultra-conservative and self-proclaimed libertarian president has threatened to veto the measure, which he has described as “irresponsible” and “exorbitant.”
Because Milei’s libertarian party controls less than 15% of Congress —and only seven of the 72 seats in the Senate— the populist outsider has relied heavily on sweeping executive decrees to implement a tough austerity program, cutting public spending and deregulating the Argentine economy.
“They are robbing people who have worked all their lives of the will to live,” says Elsa Lasarre, a retired teacher. “They can’t eat what they want. The price of electricity has gone up, I don’t know how many people live. There are many people in need, which is hard to believe in a country like ours.”
Although the government has managed to curb price increases, the cost of living rose by 4% in July and inflation in the first seven months of the year reached 87%.
The annual inflation rate is around 263.4% at a time when the minimum monthly pension is around 225,000 pesos (233 dollars) and the basic basket of food, medicines and other goods and services for an adult exceeds 291,000 pesos (301 dollars).
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