Since the start of the week, a student movement of unprecedented magnitude has crossed universities in Argentina. In question? A veto imposed by Milei, the far-right president, to block a bill which aimed to marginally increase the salaries of teachers and the budgets of universities, without which many universities are condemned to closure, due to misconduct of financing.
Faced with Milei’s project which aims to put an end to public universities, nearly 300,000 people had already taken to the streets on October 2. But the relentlessness of the far-right president ignited the powder: on Monday, students from the Faculties of Philosophy and Psychology of the UBA (University of Buenos Aires), the National University of the Arts, the College National of Buenos Aires and the Carlos Pellegrini College voted to occupy their establishments; On Tuesday, the ratification of the veto amplified the student mobilization and now more than fifty universities are mobilized, around thirty of which are occupied by students who are organizing massive assemblies there.
Between rallies, blocking of streets and courses given in public squares, the movement is taking shape throughout the country. At the University of La Matanza, the National University of La Plata, the National University of CórdobaRío Cuarto and at Villa María, they chant “university of workers!” “. In San Juan, San Luis, Santiago del Estero and many others, students occupy their establishments while in Salta, they directly occupy the rectorate!
The mobilization thus clashes with the strategy of the student and university union leaders, who concentrate all their hopes in Parliament, and have therefore not called for a strike and demonstration on the day of the veto. Conversely, our comrades from the Raised Fist sister organization “Enclave Roja” are fighting in several dozen universities for the construction of a real battle plan in the face of government attacks, as well as for massive investment in universities and increasing teachers’ salaries!
With Le Poing Raivé, we bring our internationalist support to the student mobilization in Argentina, and to all those who fight against the austerity plans that the ruling classes want to impose on workers, young people and the working classes. We stand in solidarity with the eight people arrested by the Milei police for mobilizing, and we demand their immediate release. At a time when the French government wants to make 60 billion budget cuts from which universities and all public services will suffer, the current struggle in Argentina shows an example: using the methods of class struggle, it is possible to thwart the plans of reactionary and austerity governments!
