The 24-hour general strike called for today by Argentina’s General Confederation of Labor (CGT), and the two sectors of the Confederation of Argentine Workers (CTA) to protest President Javier Milei’s murderous IMF-dictated austerity policies, was a resounding success, with an estimated 95% adherence. It far surpassed the 1.5 million who joined the last strike on Jan. 24, and followed the large, nationwide demonstration held April 23 in defense of public education and the May 1 mobilization in defense of workers.
The strike, which ends at midnight tonight, paralyzed much of the country as workers from practically every sector of the economy, in the capital of Buenos Aires and in the provinces, stayed home. Public transportation—buses, rail, subways—was shut down in most cities; schools, universities, banks and businesses, including supermarkets and shopping malls, were all closed. Nor were there any international or cargo flights into or out of the country, because the airline workers’ unions joined the strike.
Photographs taken at different locations around the capital of Buenos Aires showed empty streets and sidewalks in areas normally bustling with people and traffic. The government, of course, claimed that the strike was purely political, served no purpose except to “harm the Argentine people,” and, in the words of presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni, “is completely disconnected from reality...and incomprehensible.” He made sure to repeat the phone number people could call to report they had been “extorted” into striking.
