Tens of thousands of Argentines took to the streets on Saturday across the country in defence of hard-fought diversity advances and to denounce recent anti-"woke" pronouncements by President Javier Milei.
Protests took place at dozens of cities across the country, including Córdoba, Rosario, Bariloche, Salta, and Jujuy. The demonstrations even went international, with rallies in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Mexico City, Cologne, Geneva, London, Paris, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, among others.
In the capital, Buenos Aires City, the largest rally of all drew large crowds to the Plaza del Congreso, where activists congregated before marching to the Casa Rosada, in a colourful procession.
Over the two-kilometre route, a long procession of people draped in the colours of the rainbow flag waved placards stating: "Not a step back," as the crowd marched to the Plaza de Mayo.
The “Marcha Federal del Orgullo Antifascista y Antirracista LGBTQI+” march was organised by women's and LGBTQ rights groups. It was called in response to statements made by self-declared "anarcho-capitalist" Milei to the World Economic Forum in Davos in which he slammed "the mental virus of woke ideology."
City Police, cited by the Clarín newspaper, said that approximately 80,000 people had turned out in Buenos Aires, though organisers estimated a higher turnout.
Milei spoke out against "radical feminism" and "gender ideology" – a term used by social conservatives opposed to gender inclusivity.
In line with his so-called “cultural battle,” he attacked “wokeism,” criticised the concept of “femicide” and linked the “most extreme versions” of “gender ideology” with paedophilia.
Saturday’s mobilisation was likely the largest against the government since last April, when huge crowds took to the streets against proposed funding cuts for state universities.
It brought together opposition leaders, trade union leaders, civil society groups and pensioners, as well as international artists such as María Becerra and Lali Espósito.
Milei’s administration insists he is the victim of "malicious interpretation," but his statements at Davos angered much of society.
"That was a terrible thing, what the president said. It is not possible for someone in such an important position to say such things in public. I felt attacked," said 18-year-old gay protester Alicia González.
Marching alongside her mother and siblings, she said the President should “defend rights, not limit them.”
Ricardo Buchet, a 71-year-old pensioner, said he was marching in "solidarity" with those targeted.
"It is a test of empathy for the Argentine people who are subjected to the dictatorship of a tyrant," he said.
Milei, a libertarian former economist sometimes compared to Donald Trump, dissolved the Women, Gender & Diversity Ministry as well as the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI) in his first year in office.
A day after his Davos speech, Argentina’s Justice Minister Mariano Cúneo Libarona said the government would move to eliminate the concept of “femicide” from the Penal Code, which aggravates the penalties when gender violence is involved in a homicide.
According to the local press, the government is preparing a bill to this end and will also seek to eliminate the non-binary option in national identity documents and the so-called “trans quota” that reserves one percent of state jobs for transgender people.
Milei’s speech at Davos “hurt the sensibilities of a very important part of the population, and that catalyses an existing malaise in many sectors,” said sociologist and feminist activist Luci Cavallero.
She argued the La Libertad Avanza leader had “crossed a threshold” with his speech at the World Economic Forum.
“This is the first march I've ever been to,” said 19-year-old Raffaela, who travelled 140 kilometres from the town of Carmen de Areco, Buenos Aires Province, to join the march.
Seeing “the reaction of the people,” Milei now “must be sorry,” said Raffaela.
–– TIMES/AFP
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