Tens of Thousands Protest University Funding Cuts in Argentina

Tens of thousands of Argentines marched through major cities on Tuesday, including large crowds in Buenos Aires converging on the Plaza de Mayo and Casa Rosada, to protest government funding cuts to the public university system.

Demonstrators, including students, professors and university staff, demanded that President Javier Milei's administration implement a law passed by Congress last year to cover universities' operating costs and raise academic salaries in line with inflation. The government has refused to enact the measure and is challenging it in court, with the case expected to reach the Supreme Court. Judges have issued rulings ordering compliance, but the executive branch has appealed.

Public universities, which have been tuition-free since 1949 and have produced five Nobel Prize winners, have seen budgets reduced by about 40 percent since Milei took office in late 2023, according to education unions and the National Interuniversity Council. Professors' salaries have declined by roughly one-third in real terms after adjusting for inflation, the main teachers federation reported. University of Buenos Aires Rector Ricardo Gelpi said the losses in purchasing power have...