The Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Congress defines, this Wednesday 9th, the validity of the president’s veto Javier Miley to a law that directs more funds to public universities in a context of student struggle.
To reject the presidential veto, the support of two thirds of the deputies present in the Lower Chamber is necessary. In this case, the motion would pass to the Senate, where it also requires the same proportion of votes.
If the veto remains, the law that establishes — among others — the salary increase for teachers will be invalidated and Congress will not be able to discuss the text again this year.
The government announced that it will resort to justice if Congress rejects the presidential veto, enacted on the grounds that it compromises fiscal balance, a pillar of its policy.
According to Congress, the application of the rule, approved by the Legislature on September 13, represents 0.14% of the Gross Domestic Product.
The issue mobilized massive protests in support of the university students’ agenda and divided opinions among the government’s political allies, who do not have a majority in both legislative chambers.
In recent days, the government has held meetings to obtain support.
On Tuesday night, the Ministry of Human Capital announced a 6.8% salary increase for university professors as a last conciliatory attempt.
Teaching unions rejected it “as insufficient”, given that inflation in annual terms was 236% in August and to avoid salaries being at the mercy of the government.
Milei’s Executive proposed to allocate to universities in 2025 half of the budget that professors consider necessary to maintain the functioning of these centers.
Dozens of students from public universities are on vigil or occupied their educational institutions to pressure Congress to reject the presidential veto.
“They woke up the sleeping giant,” Ilana Yablonovsky, a 27-year-old literature student, told AFP on Wednesday.
“We tell Milei that we are going to deepen the fight plan, this is not the end, it is the beginning, we are going to radicalize the actions and coordinate with all sectors”, he added.
On Tuesday, the government eliminated a fund that financed scholarships received by thousands of university students, increasing tension while poverty rose 11 points in the first semester and stands at 52.9%.
“Today it is a miserable 28 thousand pesos per month (about 27 dollars or 148 reais) that is used for transport and copies, many of us are precarious workers”, declared Yablonovsky before leaving for Congress, where students will gather to wait the definition of the session that will start around noon.
