An Argentine photojournalist emerged from emergency surgery Thursday that his father said saved his life after suffering a serious head injury while covering clashes between police and anti-austerity protesters in Buenos Aires.
Wednesday's skirmishes resulted in at least 45 injuries and 124 people arrested for assault, resistance, battery or damage — 114 of whom have since been freed.
Freelancer Pablo Grillo was hit in the head with a projectile while taking photos. He fell to the ground, his head bleeding.
Grillo, 35, was taken to hospital to undergo surgery that his father Fabián Grillo said Thursday had "saved his life."
Fabián, who blames the security forces and government for his son's injury, said another procedure would be performed to assess pressure on the young man's brain.
"Now comes the possible recovery," the father said. "They don't know if it's good or bad."
Police have not said who fired the projectile that injured Grillo.
Football fans, labour unions and social organisations turned out in their hundreds Wednesday to support a weekly march of pensioners protesting a steep drop in their quality of life in recent years, particularly under budget-slashing President Javier Milei.
Columns of riot police on foot, backed by officers on motorbikes, used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons on protesters who threw firecrackers, stun grenades and stones taken from broken-up sidewalks.
Cars and garbage cans were set on fire and several streets barricaded with debris.
At a press conference Thursday, Buenos Aires City Mayor Jorge Macri accused "highly organised violent groups" of creating disturbances and said damage amounted to about US$240,000.
“These are people and groups who make violence their way of life,” Macri said in a press conference. “Without the professionalism of our police force, more destruction would have been provoked.”
The injured included 20 police officers, authorities said, five of whom are still receiving medical care.
'Prepared to kill'
In total, 114 of those arrested were released Thursday by a judge who said the booking details were "imprecise."
Only five of those detained were football barra bravas (football hooligans), City police announced Thursday.
Presidential Spokesperson Manuel Adorni criticised the court's decision, saying: "Those who advocate impunity... are also accomplices."
Security Minister Patricia Bullrich has defended the police response and told the LN+ broadcaster that some among the protesters "came prepared to kill."
About Grillo, she claimed he was a "Kirchnerite activist," referring to a supporter of former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Cabinet Chief Guillermo Francos likened the demonstration to "a sort of coup d'état" and said the injury to Grillo was an "unforeseen accident."
The Asociación de Reporteros Gráficos de la República Argentina (Association of Graphic Reporters of Argentina), with which Grillo is associated, condemned the police action, demanding Milei fire Bullrich and her subordinates and have them investigated.
“If not, he is morally, politically and criminally complicit in the crimes committed by his ministry,” the organisation’s statement said.
Social organisation Servicio Paz y Justicia (SERPAJ) chimed in, calling on Milei to arrest all responsible politicians for what they call a “grave violation of human rights.”
“This reality we live in makes us doubt whether we are really facing a state of law, in a democratic and representative system,” said the statement from SERPAJ, which was founded by Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Pérez Esquivel.
As midnight fell after Wednesday's violence, residents of Buenos Aires expressed their disapproval of Milei's government with a spontaneous 'cacerolazo' pot-banging protest, while hundreds marched on the seat of government from various points of the city, demanding Milei and Bullrich step down.
— TIMES/AFP/NA
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