Thousands protest across 30 Argentine cities against Javier Milei's austerity policies

Mobilisation across thirty cities

Thousands of demonstrators gathered across Argentina on Saturday, 19 September 2026, to protest against the economic policies of President Javier Milei. The protests, organized under the slogan "Marcha de la bronca" (March of Anger), took place in more than 30 cities, including Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Rosario, Bariloche, Mendoza, Mar del Plata, and Salta. In the capital, crowds assembled near the National Congress around 15:00 local time before marching toward the Casa Rosada and Plaza de Mayo. More than 350 social, political, student, and human rights organizations joined the march, led by retiree associations such as the Coordinadora de Jubilados alongside labor unions and left-wing parties. Participants carried signs condemning job losses, evictions, and falling purchasing power. María Bellozo, an unemployed 57-year-old demonstrator in Buenos Aires, described her frustration with the current administration.

We are being starved. It is sad, it makes me want to cry, because we do not deserve this.

Economic indicators and fiscal austerity

The demonstrations reflect growing public discontent over austerity measures implemented since Milei took office in December 2023. While the administration lowered annual inflation from 161% in late 2023 to 33.5% in August 2026, the spending reductions involved closing state agencies, eliminating public jobs, and capping collective wage negotiations. Data released on Thursday, 17 September 2026, by the national statistics agency Indec placed unemployment at 7.9%, its highest mark since 2021. The same agency reported that the informal sector expanded to encompass 45% of the active workforce. Furthermore, protesters noted that more than 30,000 businesses have closed amid rising utility costs and household debt. Maximiliano Jeger, a retiree in Buenos Aires, pointed to the effects of utility and housing deregulation on household budgets.

Everything has been deregulated so that the market is free to do whatever it wants. The only things that have not been freed and that are not increasing are wages and pensions. The working classes are suffering right now.

Broad social and environmental grievances

The demonstrations brought together groups with diverse grievances extending beyond baseline economic metrics. Student groups and healthcare workers protested against funding cuts to public universities, hospitals, and cultural institutions. Environmental organizations demonstrated against resource extraction, opposing large-scale mining, hydraulic fracturing, and deforestation. Women's rights activists attended with green scarves representing abortion rights, while LGBT student advocates protested government social policies. Demonstrators also raised concerns over escalating household debt and unaffordable housing rents. Jorge Rosas, a 56-year-old participant, cited widespread evictions and dismissals across the country as reasons for joining the march.

Calls for a general strike

At the conclusion of the Buenos Aires march in Plaza de Mayo, organizers presented a joint declaration criticising the government's economic trajectory. The statement condemned the administration's fiscal model, criticized provincial governors for political complicity, and targeted the leadership of national trade union confederations. Speakers singled out the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) and the Argentine Workers' Central Union (CTA) for passive stances toward government decrees. Left Front deputy Myriam Bregman, a lead organizer of the mobilization, addressed the crowd to demand a nationwide general strike against the austerity measures.

It is anger but also hope, that from the struggle, from the organization, from all these trade union, social, and human rights organizations that we have won, we will be able to build something different, democratic from below.