Doctors and university students protest against Milei's health vetoes

Doctors and nurses from the main pediatric hospital in Buenos Aires marched this Friday (12) together with university students in rejection of President Javier Milei's vetoes to the increase in funds for these sectors within the scope of his adjustment policy.

Milei, 21 months into his term, vetoed a bill on Wednesday that would have increased university budgets to keep pace with inflation and compensate for salary arrears. He had already done so in October 2024.

Furthermore, the president vetoed a law that authorized contributions from the National Treasury to the provinces, just as he called the governors to a political dialogue table following the government's harsh electoral setback on Sunday in the legislative elections in the province of Buenos Aires, where Peronism won.

In response to the vetoes, this Friday protesters, supported by unions and left-wing movements, gathered in Plaza de Mayo, in a protest that coincided with a 24-hour strike at the Garrahan pediatric hospital and public universities.

"The government has sparked discontent across society, and the polls have sent a clear message that this austerity policy should not continue," Esteban Algañaraz, 34, a stretcher bearer at Garrahan hospital, told AFP. He earns a "misery wage" of 700,000 pesos a month (around 2,500 reais), while the basic family basket (for three people) is equivalent to 3,411 reais a month.

The affected sectors are preparing a protest for next Wednesday, when the Chamber of Deputies will debate whether to reject the presidential vetoes of the university funding law and the one declaring the pediatric emergency affecting Garrahan Hospital.

This requires the approval of two-thirds in both chambers, where the government does not have its own majorities.

Last week, Congress rejected for the first time a veto by Milei of a law that provided more funding for disability, a sector shaken by corruption allegations involving her sister and Secretary General of the Presidency, Karina Milei.

She was summoned by Parliament to respond to allegations of alleged bribery in the purchase of medicines for the National Disability Agency.

At Friday's demonstration, there were numerous banners with the words "3%," the proportion attributed to the bribes that are being investigated by the courts.

President Milei admitted a "clear defeat" in the elections on Sunday, but warned that he will not give in "one millimeter" in his economic policies of fiscal and monetary balance, despite nervousness in markets that consider the peso overvalued.

The president will unveil the 2026 budget bill in a nationally televised address Monday night.

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