Argentina concluded the half-day general strike, called by the General Confederation of Labor and supported by political parties and social and human rights organizations, among others, after a march in which tens of thousands of people participated in Buenos Aires.
The first major fight between Argentine unionism and the Government of the ultra-liberal Javier Milei, which had begun at 12:00 p.m., concluded this midnight, after a day that passed without significant incidents or disturbances.
The promises of the CGT leaders of “keep fighting“against the reforms advocated by the Milei Executive focused the speech of the central event held in the Plaza del Congreso, the epicenter of the protest, a symbolic place within the framework of the discussion of the bill Basis and Starting Points for the Freedom of the Argentinos, better known as ‘omnibus law‘, which will be debated next week in the Lower House.
Follow-up of the strike
The main trade union center in the country, of Peronist inspiration, summoned some 600,000 people, according to its figures, 130,000 according to the Police of the City of Buenos Aires, and 40,000 according to the Minister of Security, Patricia Bullrich, in the first general strike that it experienced Argentina since May 2019, in the Government of Mauricio Macri (2015-2019).
Under his management there were five general strikes, while the Peronist Alberto Fernandez (2019-2023) did not have any in his mandate, which ended on December 10, when Milei took office.
Despite the dancing numbers, the truth is that, despite it being January, the southern summer vacation month, the appearance of the streets of Buenos Aires was far from being that of a place in total unemployment, mainly due to the operation of public transportation. .
The transport sector stopped from 7:00 p.m. to allow those who wanted to go to the demonstration to do so and return to their homes.
The most affected sector was air transport
Without a doubt, the most affected sector was air transport, due to the 295 cancellations and rescheduling of 26 flights Argentinian airlineswhich affected 20,000 passengers, especially at the Ministerio Pistarini International Airport and Jorge Newbery Airport.
The Executive valued at 1,500 million dollars (about 1,378 million euros) what “the CGT strike costs the country”, money with which “routes, hospitals and schools could be built”, published in its account of the social network X Javier Lanari, Undersecretary of Press of the Presidency.
The CGT called this protest when 18 days had passed after the inauguration of Javier Milei as president of Argentina, an event that took place on December 10.
Now, a month and a half after that date, the protest focused on the decree of necessity and urgency (DNU), put into force on December 29 and still under judicial protection in several points, and the ‘omnibus law’ project.