Following last week’s controversy, senior citizens, driven by police repression and government actions in response to protests over lower wages, will once again march today to seek a solution to the troubling problem facing Argentina.
Giuliana Salmonte Siciliano
“We retirees can’t take it anymore. Those who work don’t have enough money. Those who work lose their jobs because they’re fired, and we retirees earn less each month in proportion to the cost of a senior citizen’s basic needs. It’s unbearable,” Nora Biaggio, a member of the National Retirees Movement, began with a lament.
A week ago, the pension struggle took a significant leap forward in terms of mobilization, as it garnered massive support. Not only did it already have support from sectors such as the Garrahan Hospital, the Bonaparte Hospital, and those laid off from state agencies, among others, but the call from soccer fans placed this demand on a very popular and growing platform.
The retiree stated: “The presence of significant columns of workers demonstrates their willingness to come out and fight, driven by concern about the current situation: layoffs, undeclared work, the repeal of the Moratorium Law, which means no one will be able to retire, the liquidation of public schools, and the rate hikes. All of this is generating unrest and was expressed in the struggle on Wednesday.”
Today’s demonstration will feature many union sectors that called for a massive march, and various CGT unions will also be present. Actors, musicians, some student organizations, and the picketers movement were also called out. That’s why there’s talk that everyone is eligible to march, not only in Congress but also across the country.
For its part, one of the provinces that encouraged this mobilization is Córdoba, as the General Confederation of Labor invited all citizens to participate today and later hold a national strike. However, members of the National Retirees’ Movement are asking the CGT to call a general strike so everyone can mobilize.
Finally, last Wednesday, and for several weeks now, the crowd is growing and seeking a common agenda, as the demand is always similar in the face of a government that offers no answers and only seeks to repress. Nora expressed that “more and more sectors are joining the struggle, and we are facing a government and its austerity measures, and the demand of ‘Milei out, Bullrich out,’ ‘Everyone out,’ is becoming more widespread.”
“The government is willing to take the population to task.”
Last week, many incidents of police repression against protesters went viral, such as that of photojournalist Pablo Grillo. Because of this, the retiree stated: “The government repressed from early on, shooting to kill, bringing in infiltrators like every Wednesday, and activated all the protocols. If the protocol isn’t enough, it invents a new one using illegal weapons and illegal systems to stop a massive and growing mobilization.”
However, the interviewee was very harsh on the National State and stated that this government seems willing to do whatever is necessary to comply with the demands of the International Monetary Fund, even if it means favoring the businesses of those close to Javier Milei and Santiago Caputo. In other words, “it is willing to take the entire population to task. In other words, it has no limits on its repression,” she lamented.
Criticism of the Political Alliance Supporting the Government
Amid a climate of social tension, the National Retirees’ Movement points out that Javier Milei remains in power thanks to the support of other political forces. “It’s a government sustained by the alliance, because the president would have had to leave if it weren’t for the support of the Radicals and the Peronists voting for his laws in the House of Representatives,” Biaggio stated. He added: “While they violently repressed us in Congress, Cristina Kirchner didn’t call for mobilization, nor did her son, for example. The Peronists are imprisoned, and others vote for his laws.”
In this context, he emphasized that the government’s permanence is due to the support of various political sectors. “That man persists and didn’t fall because of the support provided by other parties,” he stated, referring to Milei. Finally, he called for the president and the Minister of Security to step down and for the workers to govern.
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