Balancing Act

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Argentine pensioners clashed with police in the capital Buenos Aires this week, after protests broke out over President Javier Milei’s plan to veto a bill passed by congress to raise the minimum pension amount, the BBC reported.

On Wednesday, demonstrators marched across the city, calling for the president to refrain from using his veto, warning that it would affect their standard of living.

Video footage showed retirees scuffling with authorities, as some officers used pepper spray and batons against protesters.

The unrest came days after the opposition-controlled upper house passed a bill that would increase pensions by 8.1 percent.

The new spending would cost at least 0.4 percent of Argentina’s gross domestic product, dealing a blow to the libertarian president’s austerity measures to boost the Latin American country’s years-long troubled economy, particularly suffering skyrocketing inflation and debt defaults, according to the Associated Press.

The government emphasized a commitment to maintaining a fiscal surplus, criticizing the bill as “irresponsible, illegal, and unconstitutional.” It warned that would lead to excessive government spending without proper budget allocation, potentially requiring the state to print more money or increase taxes.

Despite resistance in the legislature, Milei received support from former right-wing President Mauricio Macri, who claimed the veto was necessary for the welfare of pensioners and their descendants, the Buenos Aires Times wrote.

Milei’s libertarian party controls less than 15 percent of congress and holds only seven out of 72 seats in the upper house. This has forced him to rely heavily on executive decrees to implement his economic reforms.

The president has faced a series of defeats in congress, including a loss in the lower house over proposed spending increases for intelligence services.

Even so, Milei managed to achieve a fiscal surplus in the first six months of his presidency by cutting state spending, halting public works and reducing provincial revenue transfers.