More than 120 detained, 20 injured as pensions protest turns violent

Hundreds of retirees joined by football fans and sympathisers were met with water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets Wednesday afternoon as a weekly pensioner’s protest against President Javier Milei’s austerity measures turned violent.

Lines of riot police spent more than two hours pushing the crowd away from Congress and detained 124 people, according to a statement from the National Security Ministry. At least 20 people were injured.

Some protesters on the frontline threw rocks and grenades toward the police, as hundreds of protesters peacefully chanted from the sidelines.

A police patrol car and motorcycle was set on fire and several streets were barricaded with debris. Rubbish bins were topped and also set alight.

Government officials and aligned lawmakers blamed a hooligan element within the crowd for starting trouble, while protesters and Milei critics pointed the finger at the aggressive actions of the security forces.

A video of a police officer pushing an elderly woman to the ground, with her head bleeding, circulated widely on social media, prompting criticism of the policing of the rally.

In another video shared online, one officer could be heard yelling “come here lefties” from his vehicle as it approached demonstrators.

“I don’t accept them beating old people who have worked their entire lives, who have paid their pension, and who are asking for what they are entitled to,” demonstrator Carlos Martínez, 63, told the Times.

He accused the security forces of “beating them as if they were terrorists.”

Among those injured was photojournalist Pablo Grillo, who was captured in video footage being struck fiercely by a projectile while taking pictures.

The photographer was hit in the head by a tear gas canister, which caused severe head trauma, multiple fractures and brain damage, according to his family.

His father Fabián told local press outlets that his son was being operated on urgently and that his life is in danger.

Grillo remains in intensive care.

Sporting solidarity

Martínez, donning his River Plate jersey, was one of hundreds who responded to a call for football fans to “embrace and support” the pensioners’ call for a liveable wage and subsidised medications.

This new wave of solidarity from the sports world was sparked a week ago when Chacarita Juniors fans — alongside the usual crowd of retirees and left-wing protesters — turned out to support pensioners after one of their fans was beaten at a previous rally.

“Here are football teams who compete every Sunday, but now they are all here together,” Martínez said.

Members of Argentina’s largest labour federation, the Confederación General del Trabajo (CGT), also joined the rally.

To discourage the participation of potentially violent barra brava — hooligan groups often involved in criminal activities — the government warned that anyone who engaged in “violent disruptions against people or goods” would be identified and arrested.

Security Minister Patricia Bullrich warned Tuesday that those detained for criminal activities would be banned from football stadiums nationwide.

At a press conference just hours before the protest, Presidential Spokesman Manuel Adorni went so far as to call the rally “la marcha de los barras,” dismissing all demonstrators as hooligans.

“I’m simply a pensioner, I am not from the bravas, like the government said. I’m an ordinary citizen,” said Liliana Haimovich, wearing her red-and-white Huracán shirt.

The 66-year-old pensioner was peacefully standing on the sidewalk when hit by tear gas, she said.

“That’s what this government does: suppresses people who want to rally freely,” said Haimovich, who has attended the previous pensioner protests that normally draw just a few dozen people.

“Today it seemed important to come wearing a jersey from my club for a matter of identity. I feel identified and feel complete pride.”

As the sound of rubber bullets ricocheted in the distance around them, demonstrators continued to chant against the Milei administration.

One group of Boca Juniors fans held up a large cutout of late football legend Diego Maradona, including his quote from a similar protest in 1992: “You have to be a real coward not to defend retirees.”

Insufficient

Protesters are demanding improved pensions for retirees, who have seen their income slump in real terms amid Milei’s budget-slashing austerity measures. A recently announced 70,000-peso bonus (around US$65 at the official exchange rate) is seen by most as insufficient.

Adorni, Milei’s top spokesperson, said this week that the current pension exceeds that issued under the previous government, yet the cost of living has dramatically increased over the past 18 months, with retirees among those most severely affected.

A few blocks away from Congress, Mario Ramallo ran from the crowd after being sprayed by tear gas. His relatives and friends are among the 60 percent of retirees who receive the minimum pension amount, which is equivalent to US$340 per month.

Pensioners live in poverty, the pensioner explained. Retirees who pay rent suffer even more and are often forced to choose between food and necessary medications, Ramallo added.

“During [former president Mauricio] Macri’s administration they protested, as well, but I haven’t seen anything like this since the dictatorship,” Ramallo said, referencing Argentina's 1976-1983 period of military rule. “I was protesting at the end of the dictatorship, and it was something similar.”

A statement by the Security Ministry, led by Patricia Bullrich, celebrated the actions of the police and Gendarmerie officers: “Thanks to the coordinated work of the Federal Security Forces, public order was preserved and the impact on traffic flow was minimised.”

Bullrich posted a photo on her X social media account showing a line of officers facing off with protesters, whom she dismissed as "hooligans."

“The violent people arrested today illustrate the worst of the decadence that we are leaving in the past. We arrested a hundred violent picket-leaders, militants of political groups and barras bravas, who are members of criminal organisations that have been operating with total impunity for years,” wrote the minister.

Later, in a television interview, she attempted to justify the injuries suffered by the severely injured photojournalist Grillo by alleging he was "a Kirchnerite militant" sparking outrage from the opposition.

A few hours after the clashes, cacerolazo pot-banging protests erupted spontaneously across the capital as residents expressed dismay. Soon after, hundreds of people took the streets at various locations for impromptu protests denouncing the violence.

Teodora Jeorjales originally voted for Milei, but no longer supports the president. As a pensioner who worked 35 years of his life, he said he now has to live off less than US$300 a month.

Jeorjales, a former member of the security forces and private security officer, has a worsening degenerative bone illness that impacts his ability to stand. He quit work a year ago for his health and is barely staying afloat, he said.

“The pensioners have been hung out to dry,” he said.