Argentines Protest Economic Reform

Argentines protest outside the Congress in Buenos Aires as the Chamber of Deputies debates a reform bill that ultra-liberal President Javier Milei is trying to pass after withdrawing hundreds of articles from an ambitious earlier version that failed in parliament in February 2024.

The Chamber of Deputies of Argentina began the marathon debate on a package of reforms by ultra-liberal President Javier Milei to deregulate the Argentine economy, in a project reduced compared to the original that failed in February and whose marathon session is expected.

If it obtains the "half sanction" or approval of the deputies, the Base Law must still go through a thorny path in the Senate, where the government has only 7 of the 72 seats.

The proposal includes the declaration of the economic and energy emergency for one year, the delegation of powers from Parliament to the Executive (which would allow Milei to govern by decree), the reform of the State, labor reform, an incentive regime for large investments and changes in the pension law, in addition to establishing a dozen State companies subject to privatization.

The law contains some 230 articles, a third of those included in the ambitious reform that collapsed in February in Parliament, where the ruling party does not control either chamber.

Milei, who has not achieved the approval of a bill so far and had said that he will advance his government plan with or without the support of Congress, celebrated his "economic achievements" despite the legislative setbacks.

The ruling party has 38 deputies out of the 257 in the chamber. For approval it needs at least 129 votes in favor.

The labor confederations called to mobilize on May 1, on Labor Day, against the labor reform and the adjustment applied by the government, which has involved thousands of layoffs in the State in a context of inflation of almost 290% annually.

They also called a national strike for May 9, the second since Milei took office in December.