In a resounding response to the police violence unleashed by Patricia Bullrich’s administration, Argentine soccer fans organized to raise their voices alongside retirees who have been victims of repression for weeks during demonstrations for their rights.
By Maira Palavecino
Under the slogan “Stop beating the old,” thousands of fans from different clubs will join the defense of senior citizens and demand an end to the systematic attacks by security forces.
As every Wednesday, retirees demonstrated in front of the National Congress, accompanied by various social organizations. However, their peaceful protest was brutally repressed by security forces, who acted under Patricia Bullrich’s protocol.
When the protesters began to descend on the street, the police intervened with motorcycles, firing tear gas and beating the demonstrators, which unleashed the worst kind of violence against harmless people. The violent response from the officers highlighted the excessive use of force against a peaceful group seeking to make their demands heard.
The solidarity began with the reaction of the Chacarita fans, who confronted the brutality of the Federal Police, who attacked the retirees with blows and tear gas during a protest for better pensions and access to medicine.
This act of bravery did not go unnoticed and quickly spread to other fans and social groups, such as the bikers, who will also march this Wednesday in support of the retirees, heading to the National Congress.
In that same context, amid the repression, one of them stated live on camera: “We want this to have an impact because if they touch one of us, we all jump.”
This March 12 promises to be a historic day, in which club differences will be put aside. Regardless of colors or flags, supporters and retirees will unite to express their discontent with President Javier Milei’s economic policies, which worsen the economic situation of the working class and pensioners, who are forced to take to the streets to defend their rights.
In this climate of growing economic crisis, unemployment reached 6.4% according to the Permanent Household Survey (EPH) for the third quarter of 2024, affecting more than 1.3 million Argentines.
Faced with this situation, retirees decided to take to the streets to protest despite the high temperatures, which reached 43 degrees Celsius last Wednesday. The slogan remains clear: to demand an extension of the pension moratorium and the full reinstatement of PAMI medications.
“The elderly go out on Wednesdays to complain and send the police, which costs millions of pesos, and I can say this because I have managed that budget with clarity.” “Old people are beaten up because they ask them to put a plate of food on their table. They have to stop messing around with that,” said former official Aníbal Fernández against the government on Radio Splendid.
The cause united a large sector of society. As world champion “Negro Enrique” expressed in a moving video addressed to all clubs: “As the ’86 champion, I join this cause to be close to the retirees, because as Diego Maradona said, ‘you have to be a real coward if you don’t defend the retirees.'”
Fans from River Plate, Boca Juniors, Vélez, Temperley, Gimnasia, Chicago, Atlanta, Almirante Brown, Tigre, Racing, All Boys, Deportivo Merlo, Deportivo Morón, La Ferrere, Independiente, Huracán, and Ferro joined his message, and they have already confirmed their participation in the demonstration.
Former Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata coach Ángel Cappa also stated in an interview with El Editor Platense: “I want to express my support for the fans of almost all the Argentine soccer clubs who have decided to join the retirees in their Wednesday struggle to demand justice, to demand what is rightfully theirs and what the Milei government is taking away from them.”
The groups will gather this Wednesday, March 12, at 5pm in front of Congress, where football fans and pensioners will demonstrate their united strength.
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