Argentina’s Congress on Wednesday upheld President Javier Milei’s veto of a bill to increase pensions, as protesters clashed with police outside the building.
Thousands of people gathered to protest Milei’s veto. Police fired pepper spray and rubber bullets at a group, including pensioners, who angrily broke through a barrier after the vote.
Milei, a liberal advocate of austerity, last week blocked an 8.1 percent pension increase that had initially been approved by both houses of Congress. The increase was intended to help retirees in the South American country, which struggles with annual inflation of nearly 240 percent.
The president claimed that the measure “clearly violates the current legal framework, as it does not take into account the fiscal implications of the measure, nor does it establish from which source it is financed.”
After a heated debate that lasted more than four hours, the presidential veto was upheld by 153 votes in favor, 87 against and eight abstentions.
“We cannot spend what we don’t have, there is no money,” said deputy Juliana Santillan of Milei’s Libertad Avanza party.
The minimum pension is $230 per month.
Among those who clashed with the police or were arrested were several pensioners.
– ‘Deceived’ –
Patricia de Luca, a recently retired psychologist, said she felt “betrayed and hopeless” after lawmakers approved the veto.
“It is an excessive security operation. It seems that we are heading towards a war and not towards a parliamentary session,” said left-wing MP Cecilia Moreau as she entered Congress for the debate.
Since taking office in December, Milei has implemented a drastic austerity program in an attempt to curb chronic inflation and decades of government spending.
Inflation in August was 4.2 percent. This is the fourth month in a row that inflation has been below five percent. It is a huge drop compared to the 25.5 percent measured in December.
However, annual inflation was still sky-high at 236.7 percent.
Critics say the sharp drop in inflation and other apparent economic successes have come at the expense of the poor and working class, and are the result of a strangulation of the economy.
Congress had the power to override Milei’s veto with a two-thirds majority in both chambers, where the ruling party was in the minority and divided.
However, several MPs from the centrist Radical Civic Union (UCR), the driving force behind the law to increase pensions, announced on Tuesday that they have changed their position and are now in favour of the veto.
Milei’s veto drew particular ire after he approved a $102 million increase in the budget for the state intelligence agency (a 700 percent increase) without having to justify the spending.
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