Mobs clash with Argentina riot police over Milei reforms

POLICE fired rubber bullets, water cannon and tear gas to disperse protesters outside Argentina’s National Congress, as politicians debated Javier Milei’s sweeping economic, social and political reform package.

Demonstrators are calling for the new president’s Omnibus Bill, which proposes hundreds of measures to deregulate industries, reduce workers’ rights, limit strikes and expand presidential powers, to be rejected.

The heavy-handed police action prompted opposition legislators to storm out of Congress to denounce the crackdown.

A list of injured journalists circulated online, with the Buenos Aires press union reporting at least a dozen reporters and photographers hit by rubber bullets, including one in the face.

Martín Vega, a 50-year-old photojournalist, was hit by two rubber bullets. “Everything was calm,” he said. “Nobody was trying to block the road, or insulting anyone, or anything. Then they made the decision to shoot.”

Myriam Bregman, a Leftist lawmaker and former presidential hopeful, told reporters that a group of about 40 legislators urged police to stop the violence.

“They hurled gas at us, they hit us, they pushed us,” Ms Bregman said.

Mr Milei, a self-described anarchocapitalist, has said “shock treatment” is needed to pull the country out of its dire economic crisis. Six weeks into his presidency, inflation has hit 211 per cent.

Last week, tens of thousands of Argentines protested to chants of “Milei is not my president” – marking the first nationwide strike of its new Right-wing leader. On average, Argentine presidents survive 692 days without a strike, but Mr Milei managed just 45 days.

One protester told The Telegraph:

“Milei is like a monarch, a crazy king and we are his toy.”

Riot police crack down on demonstrators at a protest outside the National Congress in Buenos Aires, as lawmakers debated the economic reform bill put forward by Argentina’s new president, Javier Milei