Three months after being defeated in the National Congress, the Argentine government of President Javier Milei is once again trying to approve the so-called Basic Law, which has shrunk from the original 654 articles to the current 232. The debate on the package, which was initially called the ‘Bus Law’, but because it waned came to be called the ‘Combe Law’, promises to be the first approval of a Milei project in parliament, where his party, A Liberdade Avança (A Liberdade Avança) ( LLA) does not have a majority.
The list of privatizations, for example, went from 40 to nine and includes the airline Aerolíneas Argentinas. the state communications group Radio and TV Argentina and Energia Argentina, among others. The government’s objective, with the retreat, is to send a signal of governability.
Last week, the government registered the first major demonstration against its management – in this case, by teachers, students, former students, entire families in defense of what is seen as untouchable in Argentina, public education. The country’s 1994 constitution stipulates that public education (including universities) is universal, which attracts students from other countries, including Brazilians.
Milei reduced the sending of public resources to federal universities by around 30% in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year. One day before the demonstration, which took place on Tuesday, Milei held his third national chain with a speech to report Argentina’s first fiscal surplus in 16 years. That was when she said that the era of the present State was “over”. This Monday, the Minister of Human Capital, Sandra Pettovello, who is responsible for the area of education, met with the rector of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) to guarantee that the entity will receive the corresponding funds. The UBA was one of the main drivers of last week’s demonstration, which brought together a historic crowd, according to different surveys.