Milei promises jail for ‘sons of bitches’ who caused violence in protest

President Javier Milei promised Friday to jail those who provoke street riots after Wednesday’s protest by pensioners, supported by football fans, ended in clashes with police that left 124 people arrested and 45 injured.

"The good ones are the ones in blue [the police] and the sons of bitches who go around with rags on their faces and break cars, burn cars and threaten people,” said Milei during a speech at the Expoagro agricultural event in Buenos Aires Province.

Milei declared that his government will "defend the republic" and voiced his ongoing support to National Security Minister Patricia Bullrich, who was at his side during the speech.

The minister has been heavily criticised by the opposition for the aggressive actions of the security forces and for making false statements about the clashes. She has also criticised a judge who freed more than 90 individuals detained during the protest.

Bullrich has been at the centre of controversy in the wake of Wednesday's demonstration, which left a photographer in critical condition after he was hit by a canister of pepper spray fired by the police.

Pablo Grillo remains in a "serious condition," his father Fabián told the press outside the hospital on Friday.

In the immediate aftermath of the incident, when the photographer was fighting for his life during emergency surgery, Bullrich accused Grillo of being a “Kirchnerite militant” – a reference to the main opposition leader that some saw as implying that he was ‘fair game’ because of his political leanings.

The weekly demonstration by pensioners demanding improved pensions was supported by fans of at least 30 domestic football clubs, along with political parties, social organisations and unions.

The initiative was born when a group of Chacarita Juniors fans joined the protest last week to defend a retiree who was wearing the club’s shirt when he was attacked with tear gas at a previous rally.

As this Wednesday’s protest began, demonstrators faced harsh repression from police and Border Guard officers, who deployed rubber bullets, tear gas and water against protesters, some of whom responded by throwing stones, pieces of broken pavements and vandalising rubbish containers and police vehicles.

The majority of those demonstrating did so peacefully. Many of those present have alleged that the protest was beset by “infiltrators” determined to cause trouble. 

On Friday, Bullrich’s Security Ministry filed a complaint for "sedition," "attack on constitutional order and democratic life" and "aggravated illicit association" against demonstrators who were detained.

It also asked that the aforementioned judge Karina Andrade, who released 114 of the 124 detainees from the protests on Wednesday, be declared incompetent in the case.

However, Andrade said on Friday that she made the decision because "the detentions were being reported without basic data" such as national identification numbers and details of when and where they were arrested. 

She clarified that this does not prevent the investigation of the detainees from continuing, given she didn’t issue a formal dismissal of the case.

Bullrich says that among the participants were "different sectors that seek the total and absolute destabilisation" of the government.

Many Milei allies have described Wednesday's events as an attempted “coup d’état,” despite protesters making no attempt to unseat the government. 

There have been disagreements too within Milei’s party, La Libertad Avanza, over the repression. Vice-President Victoria Villarruel, who has fallen from favour with the President, took a different stance, condemning violence on both sides.

"Of course, I sympathise with all those who were injured. Whether it be those who went to demonstrate or, above all, those of the federal forces who also put their bodies into situations that are very violent,” she said to reporters Thursday.

"To all those injured, my support and, of course, I hope that this can be resolved as things happen in a democracy.

When asked if the incidents could be interpreted as an attempt to destabilise the government, Villarruel was categorical: “No, I don't think so, I simply believe that it is the exercise of democracy, but violence is not a tool for demonstrating or for defending any cause.”

Villarruel’s statement, which deliberately avoided condemning the protesters, reflects internal tensions over the handling of the demonstration. 

Spain trip cancelled

Milei was due to travel overseas to Spain and Israel at the end of the month but on Friday, it emerged that the La Libertad Avanza leader has decided to trim his tour and skip the European leg. 

Instead of departing Argentina on March 20, as originally planned, Milei intends to travel only to Israel, for what would be his second trip to the nation of his Presidency. He will depart Buenos Aires on March 28.

The Fundación Club de los Viernes, which invited Milei to Spain and intended to give him an award, said in a statement on social media that Argentina’s leader had “decided to postpone his trip to Europe.”

The group – which describes it a “non-partisan platform for the dissemination of liberal thought and democracy” – claimed incorrectly that Argentina and Milei as he had suffered “attempted coup d'état” in recent days.

– TIMES/AFP/NA