Argentine President Javier Milei assured, Sunday April 28, that he had no intention of closing public universities, five days after the largest demonstration in the sector against his government’s austerity policy.
2 mins
Argentinian President Javier Milei, interviewed on the LN+ television channel, said he had “not never thought of closing public universities “. “ We never thought about stopping funding them », affirmed Mr. Milei, repeating his remarks made earlier on Rivadavia radio. “ Our opponents invented a lie and are attacking us based on this lie », Also estimated the Argentine head of state.
“ Since those who pay taxes fund public universities, we demand audits. It’s been ten years since there was one. Who doesn’t want an audit of expenses? Thief “, he finally added. Javier Milei, an ultraliberal economist, became president of Argentina in December with the promise of bringing down three-digit inflation, which stood at 287.9% over twelve months in March 2024 according to the national statistics institute.
State of fiscal emergency
On Tuesday April 23, hundreds of thousands of people, mainly students, graduates and academics, demonstrated in the capital Buenos Aires and the country’s main cities, joined in particular by unions and opposition parties. Argentine universities declared themselves in a state of budgetary emergency after the government decided in 2024 to allocate them the same envelope as in 2023 despite inflation.
According to the presidential spokesperson, Mr. Milei agreed, in the face of criticism, to “ increase operating expenses by 70% in March, and again by 70% in May » and to pay an extraordinary allocation to university hospitals. Javier Milei, whose policy is mainly based on cost cutting, estimated that monthly inflation in Argentina could fall below 10% in April.
Read alsoArgentina: hundreds of thousands of people demonstrate to defend the university