Argentines Protest Education Cuts

Hundreds of thousands of Argentines took to the streets, protest organizers said, to voice outrage at cuts to higher public education under budget-slashing new President Javier Milei.

Joined by professors, parents and alumni from the economic crisis-riddled South American country's 57 state-run universities, students rose up "in defense of free public university education."

Labor unions, opposition parties and private universities backed the protests in Buenos Aires and other major cities such as Cordoba -- in one of the biggest demonstrations yet against the austerity measures introduced since Milei took office in December.

Police said around 100,000 people turned out in the capital alone, while organizers put the number at closer to half-a-million -- paralyzing the city center for hours on end.

A teachers' union reported a million protesters countrywide.

Thousands of public servants have lost their jobs, and Milei has faced numerous anti-austerity protests.

His government dismissed protests as "political."

Universities declared a financial emergency after the government approved a 2024 budget the same as the one for 2023, despite annual inflation approaching 290 percent.

On top of that, higher learning institutions say a near 500-percent monthly increase in energy costs has brought them to their knees.

As the fire was built, Milei conceded a 70-percent increase in funding for public universities' operating expenses in March, to be followed by another 70 percent in May and a one-off grant to university hospitals.

Operating expenses exclude teacher salaries, which make up about 90 percent of a university budget.

Milei won elections last November vowing to take a chainsaw to public spending and reduce the budget deficit to zero.