On Tuesday, after in a surprise move preponing the vote, Argentine congress passed a new bill that further reduces pensions and social welfare benefits by a significant margin. This attempt made by the government to pre-emptively take the wind out of any potential protester’s sails by preponing however, horrible backfired for them. Tens of thousands of people protested against the proposal. For many hours thousands attacked the police in front of the congress building in Buenos Aires.
Even considering only the estimated cutbacks of 45€ per month (!) less pension and the abolishment of a Christmas bonus for pensioners, the enormity of the attack of the government against the Argentine people is obvious at first glance. Hence, the tremendous rage of the people who, most notably in the days between Friday the 15th and Monday the 18th, took to the streets and made the government turn pale. The underhanded move of the congress - attempting to sneak pass this law and by doing so, dropping their “democratic” guise once again – further infuriated the people. In the riots in front of the hall of congress on Monday, which lasted nearly the whole day, at least 88 cops were wounded. The demonstrations and militant confrontation were complementated by a country wide strike, crippling much of the transportation.
