March 13, 2025 (EIRNS)—Photographs are circulating internationally of the brutal police repression March 12 of Argentine retirees who gather every Wednesday in front of the national Congress to protest the Milei government’s gutting of their pensions and cancellation of programs that provided them with free medicine. These protests have been going on weekly for the past year, and although every week retirees are beaten up by the police, tear-gassed and clubbed, that hasn’t stopped them from returning every Wednesday. Pensioners carried signs reading “Don’t hit us, we are your parents,” or “Help me fight, you’ll be the next elderly person.”
Yesterday’s protest on March 12 was different, in that it included large numbers of fans of Argentina’s most prominent soccer clubs—the infamous “hinchas” known for their rowdy and often aggressive behavior. They had previously announced that they would march to defend “our parents and grandparents” from Milei’s sadistic and cruel policies. Several trade unions also participated. According to Roberto Navarro, editor of El Destape, undercover police and intelligence service provocateurs infiltrated the march to unleash violence.
Fascist Security Minister Patricia Bullrich had organized a stormtrooper response, with phalanxes of armored police lined up to use tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannons, and their batons to stop the protesters. Close to 200 people were arrested, and several hospitalized, including a free-lance cameraman, who was hit in the head with a tear-gas canister and is now hospitalized in critical condition. Elderly protesters, including one 85-year-old, were bloodied and thrown to the ground with head wounds. Announcing that all the protesters were either “leftists,” or “Kirchneristas,” as followers of former President Cristina Kirchner are dubbed, Bullrich warned that anyone who violates her “safety protocol” in the future–i.e., all protesters must stay on the sidewalk—will be charged with domestic terrorism and face long jail sentences.
