Argentina’s Congress on Wednesday upheld President Javier Millay’s veto of a bill to increase pensions, as protesters clashed with police outside the building.
Thousands gathered to protest Miley’s veto, with police firing pepper spray and rubber bullets at a group — including pensioners — who angrily broke a barrier after the vote.
Miley, a budget-cutting libertarian, last week blocked an 8.1 percent pension increase originally approved by both houses of Congress aimed at helping retirees in the South American country which suffers from annual inflation of almost 240%.
The president claimed that the measure clearly violates the existing legal framework, as it does not consider the fiscal implications of the measure or determine the source of its funding.
After a bitter debate lasting more than four hours, the presidential veto was upheld with 153 votes in favor, 87 against and eight abstentions.
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“We can’t spend what we don’t have, there’s no money,” said Rep. Juliana Santigan of Milei’s Libertad Avanza party.
The minimum pension is equivalent to $230 per month.
Many pensioners were among those who clashed with police or were detained.
‘Betrayed’
Patricia de Luca, a recently retired psychologist, said she felt “betrayed and desperate” after lawmakers upheld the veto.
“This is an over-security operation, it looks like we are coming to war, not a parliamentary session,” left-wing lawmaker Cecilia Moreau said as she entered Congress ahead of the debate.
Since taking office in December, Milei has implemented a drastic austerity program in an effort to curb chronic inflation and decades of government overspending.
Inflation in August came in at 4.2%, the fourth consecutive month below 5% and a huge drop from December’s 25.5%.
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However, annual inflation was still high at 236.7%.
Critics say the sharp drop in inflation and other apparent economic victories have come at the expense of the poor and working classes and because of strangulation of the economy.
Congress had the power to override Millay’s veto with a two-thirds majority in both houses, where the ruling party is a minority, and divided.
However, several lawmakers from the centrist Radical Union of Citizens (UCR), the driving force behind the pension increase law, announced on Tuesday that they had changed their position and are now in favor of the veto.
Milei’s veto drew particular ire as it authorized a $102 million increase in the state intelligence agency’s budget — a 700 percent increase — without requiring a spending justification.
Source: AFP