Argentina’s libertarian president, Javier Miley It has tried to dismiss the worsening budget crisis at public universities as politics as usual, a competition with its left-wing political rivals who hold influence on liberal campuses.
That’s not the case for many students at the elite University of Buenos Aires, where last week halls went dark, elevators shut down and air conditioning stopped working in some buildings. Professors lectured to 200 people without microphones or projectors because the public university – one of the best in Latin America – could not cover its electricity bill.
“This is an unimaginable crisis,” said Valeria Anon, a 50-year-old literature professor who protested Miley’s austerity measures in the city. Buenos Aires Tuesday along with thousands of others. “I feel very sad for my students and for myself.”
Javier Miley crushes Argentina’s leftists, becomes the world’s first independent head of state
In his drive to reach zero deficit, Miley is cutting spending across Argentina – closing ministries, defunding cultural centres, laying off state workers and cutting subsidies. On Monday he had something to show, announcing Argentina’s first quarterly fiscal surplus since 2008.
Students protest against more public university funding and austerity measures proposed by President Javier Meili in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. The posters read in Spanish “With fascism, there are no rights.” Center, and “Why is there so much fear in educating people?” right, and “To protect the university is to protect the country,” left. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
“With most of politics, unions, media and most economic actors against us, we are making the impossible possible,” he said in a televised address.
Crowds of university students and professors walked out of classrooms in a massive show of defiance on Tuesday and joined thousands of protesters in the city center. Some privately funded schools were closed in solidarity. Protests also engulfed other cities in Argentina. “The University will protect itself!” The students shouted.
“We’re trying to show the government that it can’t take away our right to education,” said Santiago Ciraolo, a 32-year-old social communications student who was protesting Tuesday. “Everything is at stake here.”
In a sign of the broader ideological battle, members of trade unions and left parties also took to the streets. Describing universities as bastions of socialism where professors educate their students, Miley has accused her political enemies of fomenting dissent. “The cognitive dissonance created by brainwashing in public education is tremendous,” he said.
Since last July, when the fiscal year began, the 200-year-old University of Buenos Aires, or UBA, has received only 8.9% of its total budget from the state as annual inflation is now close to 290%. The university says this is barely enough to keep the lights on and provide basic services in teaching hospitals that are already stretched to capacity.
Declaring a financial emergency, the UBA warned last week that without a rescue plan, schools would close in the coming months, leaving 380,000 students stranded mid-degree. This is a blow to Argentines who consider free and quality university education a national birthright. UBA has a proud intellectual tradition, having produced five Nobel Prize winners and 17 presidents.
“I have been given access to a future through this university that otherwise my family and many others at our income level would never have been able to afford,” said Alex Vargas, a 24-year-old economics student. “When you step back, you see how important it is to our society.”
President Meili came to power last December and inherited a sagging economy fueled by years of excessive spending and suffocating international debt. Waving a chainsaw during his campaign as a symbol of budget cuts, he repeated a simple slogan for compatriots struggling with budget cuts and the 50% devaluation of the peso: “There is no money.”
Overall, Argentina devotes about 4.6% of its GDP to education. Critics of the university system say the budget cuts are also an effort to increase efficiency and fiscal transparency. Some people want foreign students to start paying dues. Public universities are free not only for Argentines but also for international students, with large numbers of students coming from Latin America, Spain and far-flung countries.
“Where I’m from, a high-quality education is unfortunately a privilege, not a basic right,” said Sofia Hernandez, 21. Bogota Colombia Studying medicine at UBA. “Argentina has a model that I wish more countries had.”
The government said late Monday it was sending $24.5 million to public universities and $12 million to keep medical centers running. “The discussions are closed and resolved,” presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni said Tuesday.
University officials disagreed, saying that the promised transfers – which they have not yet received – covered only a fraction of what they needed. For the UBA, taking inflation into account, this means a 61% cut in the annual budget.
It also won’t help the incomes of teachers, who have seen their salaries drop by more than 35% in the past four months, said UBA Treasury Secretary Matias Ruiz. Employees’ salaries can be as low as $150 per month. Many teachers work multiple jobs just to make ends meet, and wonder if they will receive any pay the entire next month.
“It has a big impact on our research, the projects and academic activities we are able to do,” said Ines Aldao, a 44-year-old literature professor at UBA. “Under previous right-wing governments our funding and wages have been frozen but these cuts are three times worse.”
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The government’s precarious balancing act was put on clear, split screens Tuesday as angry workers, professors and students marched through the streets of the capital, just hours after Miley declared economic victory from her Rashtrapati Bhavan.
“We are building a new era of prosperity in Argentina,” Miley said in her national address. Claiming that Argentina had posted a quarterly fiscal surplus of 0.2% of GDP, the President promised the public that the pain would be repaid.
