Argentina's Milei defies court order on university funding

Summarised from Al Jazeera's report · Updated 16 Oct, 03:44 · Archive

A judge has fined Argentina's government for failing to fund public universities, but President Javier Milei has refused to implement a law to boost education spending. Milei says implementing the law would threaten his budget-balancing austerity plan. The refusal has triggered protests from students and teachers. Clashes erupted between demonstrators and police in Buenos Aires as protesters demanded the government enact the funding law. Students at the University of Buenos Aires announced they would occupy their campus, a traditional form of protest in Argentina meant to raise public awareness and pressure the government.

Students and professors say Milei's austerity policies are damaging public universities and threatening free higher education. Emiliano Gato, a physics student, told Al Jazeera that many of the faculty's best professors are leaving for private universities because salaries cannot cover their basic needs. Since taking office in 2023, Milei has laid off thousands of state employees, shut down ministries, reduced subsidies and cut government-funded programmes as part of what he describes as one of Argentina's harshest austerity plans.

Read the report

• Argentine students protest on campus over Milei’s austerityJudge fines the government for failing to fund universities as protests over Milei's cuts turn violent.Al Jazeera · 16 Oct, 03:11
• Clashes erupt at protest over university funding law in ArgentinaProtesters in Buenos Aires demanded the government implement a law to boost university funding.Al Jazeera · 16 Oct, 02:19

In this story: Javier Milei · Buenos Aires · University of Buenos Aires · Argentina · Emiliano Gato

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