Lower house deputies back Milei’s veto of university funding bill

Lawmakers in Argentina’s lower house Chamber of Deputies have voted not to strike down President Javier Milei’s veto of a law to boost funding for state universities.

Milei’s government was left celebrating after opponents in the chamber failed to obtain the two-thirds majority necessary to keep the legislation in place. 

A total of 160 lawmakers – mostly made of government opponents – backed a move to strike down the presidential veto, but the ruling La Libertad avanza (LLA) party obtained 84 votes, managing to sustain the intervention.

Milei’s party, which is firmly in the minority in Congress, managed to win vital support from the right-wing PRO party, the Creo caucus, three Unión Cívica Radical deputies and three from Independencia, a caucus that answers to Tucumán Province Governor Osvaldo Jaldo.

An alliance of Peronist lawmakers, left-wing deputies and members of the Unión Cívica Radical (UCR), Encuentro Federal, Por Santa Cruz and Producción y Trabajo caucuses was not enough to overturn the veto.

Five deputies – four from Misiones and UCR lawmaker Pablo Cervi – abstained, while eight legislators were absent.

It’s another congressional win for Milei, who came to power promising to drastically reduce public spending. Last month another veto striking down a law that increased pensions was also upheld by the Legislature.

Responding to the news, teachers and non-teaching staff at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) announced a national strike for Thursday. They criticised the "shameful" vote and accused the Chamber of Deputies of “putting the future of an entire country at stake."

Fiscal balance

Milei’s government had previously announced that it would go to court if necessary to defend the veto. It says the university funding law jeopardises fiscal balance, the cornerstone of the government’s economic policy.

The issue has stirred public opinion, which has been mobilised in massive marches in support of state universities, teachers and students. 

As the vote took place, hundreds of people gathered outside Congress to pressure lawmakers into protecting the law they previously passed. Large numbers of security forces and police watched on as they demonstrated.

"Deputies, we are watching you" and "our future is not vetoed" read some of the posters wielded by students and teachers.

"Education means a lot to me, it means equal opportunities and it is important nowadays to defend these things, when there is so much individualism in society," said 20-year-old Camila Flores, a psychology student at UBA. 

Prior to the session, government officials were confident they had secured enough support to tip the vote in their favour. 

However, there was still dissidence from Milei’s ideological allies. Former La Libertad Avanza deputy Lourdes Arrieta – who was recently ejected from the libertarian caucus – said she would vote to “support students.”

“I ask for forgiveness from the Argentines because the money is not being well managed,” she said before Congress.

Milei's administration wants to allocate to universities in 2025 half of the budget that teachers consider necessary to maintain the functioning of higher education institutions.

Dozens of students from public universities are on vigil or have taken over faculties to pressure Congress to reject the president's veto.

 

‘Not in danger’

Milei administration officials and backers have insisted the veto will not damage Argentina’s public universities, which have produced five Nobel laureates and represent 80 percent of higher education enrollment.

"Public university education is not in danger, don't be afraid," said pro-government deputy José Luis Espert on Wednesday. 

"We want better teachers, university graduates, better research. What we don't want are deals that are made behind the universities backs, all with taxpayers' money," he added. 

PRO deputy Fernando Iglesias, who backed Milei’s veto, denied opposition claims that there is a “plan to dismantle public universities.”

"We are not discussing the value or the continuity of the public university. There is no dismantling plan. Those who say that are lying without evidence," he said.

Lawmaker Miguel Angel Pichetto, the head of the Encuentro Federal caucus, defended the original law sanctioned by deputies. 

"What is the programme they have? A society of mass destruction of what little welfare we have left," he said in a speech that was highly critical of the government's policies.

The increase in resources "is only 0.14 percent of GDP," he argued.

However, former president Mauricio Macri (2015-2019), who ran with Pichetto on a presidential ticket in 2019, expressed his support for the veto in a public letter.

Local media said PRO party chair had worked behind the scenes to ensure his lawmakers backed Milei’s veto.

 

‘Education is a right’

UCR deputy Facundo Manes bemoaned the move to cut funds, stating that “education is the best economic policy in the 21st century.”

For the neuroscientist, “public education is a right that defines our nation” and is “the heart of the Argentine identity.”

On Tuesday night, the Human Capital Ministry announced a 6.8 percent salary increase for university teachers as a last-ditch attempt at conciliation.

The teachers' unions rejected it “as insufficient” given that year-on-year inflation in August was running at 236 percent. 

The government has also eliminated a state fund that financed scholarships received by thousands of university students, stoking tempers even further.

Poverty grew 11 points in the first half of the year and now stands at 52.9 percent.

Students and teachers are vowing not to give up in their fight for better funding.

“They woke up a sleeping giant,” said Ilana Yablonovsky, a 27-year-old literature student at 
UBA, as she demonstrated outside Congress on Wednesday.

“We tell Milei that we are going to deepen the plan of struggle, this is not the end, it is the beginning, we are going to radicalise the actions and coordinate with all sectors,” added Yablonovsky, a student at UBA’s Faculty of Philosophy and Letters.

– TIMES/AFP/NA