Protests Erupt After Argentina Blocks Pension Hike

Argentine protesters clashed with police outside the country's Congress, after lower house lawmakers voted to block a planned hike to pensions that had been opposed by right-wing libertarian President Javier Milei.

The chamber of deputies voted 153 in favor of the pension hike with 87 against it, falling short of the two-thirds needed to approve the bill after Milei had previously vetoed it saying that it put the country's plan for a fiscal balance at risk.

As news of the vote spread, hundreds of people protesting in central Buenos Aires broke down barriers erected by police and clashed with security forces with riot gear in the streets.

Argentina's government is pushing a tough austerity package of spending cuts to overturn years of fiscal deficits and tame high inflation, which has helped bolster the state's finances, but hit the real economy and left more people in poverty.

Deputies in the lower house Chamber of Deputies upheld President Javier Milei's veto of their bill to increase pensions against a backdrop of clashes between protesters and security forces outside Congress.

Thousands of demonstrators gathered to protest Milei's veto, with police firing pepper spray and rubber bullets at one group – including pensioners – who angrily broke down a barrier after the vote.

Twelve people were injured and three arrested. No official confirmation of those figures was immediately available, though government sources said one other arrest had been made.

Milei last week blocked an 8.1-percent pension increase initially approved by both houses of Congress, which aimed to help cushion retirees hit by annual inflation of almost 240 percent.