Police in Buenos Aires have fought running battles with hundreds of football fans and anti-austerity protesters during a weekly protest by pensioners.
Argentine pensioners and soccer fans clashed with police on Wednesday as a protest unfolded in front of Congress, with citizens rallying against the economic policies brought in by the government of President Javier Milei.
It was an unlikely mix with retirees gathered in Buenos Aires flanked by soccer fans from teams normally at odds with one another.
What started as a peaceful event escalated into violent clashes as police fired water cannons, tear gas and pellets while protesters threw stones.
The crowd yelled “Milei, garbage, you are the dictatorship!” — a comparison of his rule with the military junta that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983.
What are the protests about?
For several weeks, retirees have staged protests calling for increased pensions, citing a precarious standard of living. While previous demonstrations involved scuffles with authorities, including tear gas deployed against the elderly, Wednesday’s unrest was unprecedented in scale.
The Milei government has imposed a range of public spending cuts since coming to power a year and a half ago.
Security Minister Patricia Bullrich on Wednesday posted a photo on X, formerly Twitter, showing a line of police facing off with protesters she described as “hooligans.”
She later posted a video, saying “the violent individuals arrested today” demonstrated “the worst of the decline we are leaving behind. In Argentina, the law rules, not the hooligans or the left.”
Pensioners have felt the brunt of most of the austerity measures implemented by the far-right government in Argentina.
Indeed, pension increases have fallen well short of inflation.
Nearly 60% of pensioners receive only the minimum amount, equivalent to around $340 (€312) per month.
Milei’s measures
Last year, Milei vetoed a law that would have seen pensions rise by a fraction of the boost needed to maintain their purchasing power.
He has also eliminated price controls on medicines, which has left some pensioners saying they are forced to choose between food and life-saving drugs.
