The legislative benches in the Senate of Argentina – without debate and in a show of hands – increased their salaries by 170%, in a decision that generated controversy this Friday (04/19/2024) due to the harsh economic crisis that the country is going through, with 288 % year-on-year inflation and more than half of the population in poverty.
After the vote, which took place at the end of an ordinary session on April 18 and lasted less than two minutes, the 72 members of the upper house will earn about 4 million pesos ($4,500) net per month, while the minimum wage , in a historic apartment, is around 200,000 pesos (about 230 dollars).
The opposition blocs voted in favor, while the ruling parties and their allies did not raise their hands, although they provided a quorum for the vote and did not ask for a nominal vote, a usual practice when there is no consensus.
President Javier Milei said at a business forum in Bariloche (south) that the senators “were exposed once again” and shared publications on his networks describing the legislators as “cynical” and “hypocrites.” Meanwhile, the Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo, wrote on
One of the senators most targeted by the Government was Martín Lousteau, president of the opposition Radical Civic Union who, to vote in favor, half raised his hand: the capture of the moment was shared more than 20 times by Milei in X.
Lousteau, for his part, assured in a radio interview that the measure had been agreed upon by all parties and defended the increase: “A senator was earning less than a tweeter of the president; “He was charging a third of what (presidential spokesperson) Manuel Adorni did.”
In the third week of April, it was learned that the presidential spokesperson will have the rank of Secretary of State, with a salary equivalent to about 3,000 dollars, and that Karina Milei – sister of the president and general secretary of the Presidency – will have ministerial rank, earning about 4,000 dollars.
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