Argentina Reasserts Pledge Not to Close Public Universities Amid Protests

Facts

• A spokesperson for Argentina's Pres. Javier Milei reaffirmed in a press conference on Wednesday that the closure or defunding of public universities has never been on the agenda, stressing that authorities do plan to audit their spending.¹
• This comes as thousands of Argentines rallied on Tuesday to demand increased funding for public universities, amid claims that the institutions could be forced to shut down in the upcoming months otherwise.²
• Estimates of the crowd size at the protest in Argentina's capital city range from 150K to 800K, with local news outlet La Nación claiming that aerial and on-ground images suggest there were 450K people.³
• This protest — one of the biggest since the libertarian president took office — comes as the government has frozen most of the budget for public universities, effectively cutting spending due to double-digit monthly inflation.⁴
• Some 2.2M people, including many from other Latin American countries, are enrolled in Argentina's free-of-charge state-run higher education system, which Milei has claimed indoctrinates students with socialism.⁵
• On Monday, the country registered a fiscal surplus in the first quarter of the year for the first time since 2008, as the Milei administration focuses on eliminating fiscal deficit to end 'once and for all' the inflationary crisis.⁶

Sources: ¹XINHUA, ²BBC News, ³EL PAÍS English, ⁴CNN, ⁵Al Jazeera and ⁶Breitbart.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Buenos Aires Times. Argentines have been proud of their education system for generations, so it's no surprise that demonstrations for public universities have rocked the country. As the middle class has now set a red line for Milei's radical economic adjustment, he should act on that message sooner rather than later.
• Narrative B, as provided by The New York Sun. Milei is taking the tough economic calls necessary in the current climate. On the brink of an economic collapse, Argentina must bring spending under control to restore fiscal responsibility. Whether the middle class likes it or not, sound finances are key to the country's recovery.

Predictions