Tens of thousands demonstrate in Argentina over Milei university cuts

Tens of thousands of Argentines took to the streets Tuesday in Buenos Aires to protest libertarian President Javier Milei's deep cuts to the budgets of public universities, according to AFP reporters.

The fourth major demonstration over university budgets since Milei took office in December 2023 came a day after it emerged that his government is planning further cuts to education and health spending.

The Buenos Aires protest culminated at the Plaza de Mayo, where the presidential palace is located, and spilled onto surrounding streets.

Large crowds marched through other cities including Cordoba, Mendoza and Tucuman, local television footage showed.

"I'm here to defend public education," 18-year-old literature student Renata Lopez told AFP in the capital, holding up a copy of Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451," a novel that depicts a future dystopian society that has outlawed books.

The novel "speaks to our current reality," Lopez said. "Defunding education isn't something alien, it isn't dystopian. It's something that's happening."

The protest called for the implementation of a university funding law at the center of a lengthy political standoff.

Initially approved by Congress in 2025, Milei later vetoed the legislation, arguing that it contradicted his government's fiscal policy.

The government requested an intervention from the Supreme Court, which is not under any deadline to issue a ruling.

A document read from a stage at the protest asked the court to "stand with us and listen to the outcry."

"Public university is a source of pride for our country," 35-year-old Ludmila, a nutrition teacher, told AFP in Buenos Aires. "The fact that everyone can attend, regardless of their social class, is something we must defend."

In recent years, Argentine teaching salaries have fallen by 40 percent and hundreds of teachers have resigned, according to unions.

The University of Buenos Aires estimated a turnout of 600,000 in the capital.

Police had not yet released official figures Tuesday evening.