Police fire tear gas and water cannon at Buenos Aires university march

A peaceful march turns violent

Students, teachers, union members and social organisations gathered in Buenos Aires on Thursday, 15 October 2026, to demand that President Javier Milei's government apply the university financing law. Organisers said close to one million people took part across the country, and the central rally was held in the square in front of Congress. The march stayed peaceful until a group of hooded people began throwing stones and pieces of street furniture at the barriers protecting Congress. Police responded with tear gas and water from water cannon trucks. Clashes lasted just over an hour after the main rally had ended, and as rain fell officers worked to clear a square partly strewn with stones.

Arrests and injuries

Ministry of National Security sources said at least 25 people were detained and eight members of the security forces were hurt. No official count of protester injuries was immediately available, although television images showed some demonstrators struck directly by tear gas canisters. Security minister Alejandra Monteoliva denounced the violence on X.

The same violent people as always. They want to impose chaos, defy the security forces and turn the streets into a no-go zone.

Opposition deputies, who were in session inside Congress, came out into the square to denounce what they described as an unjustified repression of a peaceful demonstration.

The funding law and the budget dispute

The law requires university salaries to be adjusted for inflation since December 2023, and it also restores scholarships and operating funds. Congress approved it and then revalidated it despite a presidential veto. Six congressional votes and four court rulings have ordered it applied, yet the government still refuses to restore the funds it has cut for almost three years. The government argues the law would undermine its zero-deficit target and prefers smaller, staggered pay rises that it sets unilaterally. Sector studies put the 2026 university budget 25.3% lower in real terms than the 2023 allocation. A study by the University of Buenos Aires' national economy research centre found that university resources fell 40.5% in real terms between the first half of 2023 and the first half of 2026. The 2027 budget bill allocates 430 million euros to public universities, 33% less than rectors requested.

Universities respond

Franco Bartolacci, president of the National Interuniversity Council, asked the crowd at the closing act how far the protest must go to win answers.

What more do you want us to do to find answers? What are the ways, and how much patience must we have?

The march was the fifth federal university march since Milei took office in December 2023, and the previous national mobilisation was held in May. Teachers and students described months of disruption, and one Social Sciences student said strikes had been held every month for a year and a half. Students who had travelled 50 kilometres from La Plata also joined the march, carrying banners that demanded the government comply with the law.