The faculty’s central hall was covered with dozens of banners protesting the government’s austerity measures. Students had called the assembly to announce the occupation of the university building, a traditional form of protest in Argentina intended to raise public awareness and pressure the government. They said they would occupy the building for one day.
Students and professors expressed concern over the impact of Milei’s austerity policies on public universities, warning that the future of free higher education was at risk.
“Our best professors are leaving en masse. With salaries that cannot cover their basic needs, they are leaving for private universities,” Emiliano Gato, a physics student involved in the group, told Al Jazeera.
“I dream of doing research and teaching at the public University of Buenos Aires. It’s a prestigious school. But now, with this austerity plan, I don’t know what will happen.”
Public universities have become a major battleground in Milei’s austerity campaign. Students and professors are protesting inadequate funding and declining salaries, which they say threaten Argentina’s public education system.
Since taking office in 2023, Milei has pursued one of the harshest austerity programmes in Argentina’s history. His government has laid off thousands of state employees, shut down ministries, reduced subsidies and cut government-funded programmes. The measures were intended to combat high inflation, which had been a major problem in Argentina.
Almost three years later, inflation has fallen to around 2 percent a month, and Milei maintains that his economic plan is succeeding.
“Argentina is growing at a remarkable pace. We have now recorded 27 consecutive months of sustained growth, and today the country is expanding at four times its historical rate. This growth is being felt across almost every sector of the economy,” Milei said during a recent visit to Washington.
However, the economic programme has also had significant repercussions for public education, welfare programmes for people with disabilities, pensioners and others who depend on state support. Opposition parties have attempted to block many of the president’s reforms.
Last year, Congress overturned presidential vetoes and approved two laws, one providing increased funding for public universities and another declaring a disability emergency. Milei’s government has refused to implement the laws, arguing that Congress failed to identify how the measures would be financed.
The dispute over university funding has since escalated into a legal confrontation. A federal judge has begun fining the government 100,000 pesos, equivalent to around $70, per day for failing to implement parts of the university financing law.
The legislation requires Milei’s government to restore university salaries and student scholarships that have been eroded by inflation, regularly update budgets and provide funding for research, hospitals and infrastructure.
The funding dispute prompted thousands of people to take to the streets on Thursday, demanding that the government implement the law. Across Buenos Aires, long columns of demonstrators blocked the city centre as protesters called for a general strike.
Although the demonstration was intended to remain peaceful, it soon turned violent. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets as protesters threw rocks. The plaza in front of Congress resembled a battleground, with at least 25 people detained and several others injured, including members of the security forces.
Maria Teresa de Jesus, a professor in the University of Buenos Aires’ chemistry department, said she earned around $700 a month and was finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet.
“I have come to this protest as a last resort. I am professor. I love teaching, doing research. I shouldn’t be here,” she told Al Jazeera.
“Public education is crucial in this country, to make education accessible to all. And the government is ignoring it.”
Despite the protests, many Argentinians continue to support Milei’s economic programme. They are hoping the government’s plans to exploit the country’s vast natural resources will eventually generate more jobs, increase wages and improve living standards.
The growing confrontation over university funding highlights the competing pressures facing Argentina as the government pursues its austerity agenda. While Milei points to declining inflation and sustained economic growth as evidence that his policies are working, students and academics warn that funding reductions and eroding salaries are putting the country’s public universities and the principle of free higher education at risk.
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