Argentine police fired rubber bullets to disperse protesters who had gathered outside Congress in Buenos Aires as lawmakers debated newly elected President Javier Millei's sweeping economic, social and political reform proposals. fired.
Opposition MPs briefly ran out of the building to observe and condemn the police action, but then returned indoors and took their seats, with debate resuming until after midnight.
Local media reported three people were injured and several arrested. The Buenos Aires Press Union reported that at least a dozen journalists were hit by rubber bullets, and one was shot in the face.
It all unfolded on the second day of what is expected to be a marathon debate over Mr Millais' so-called omnibus reform bill.
The 53-year-old political outsider, who calls himself a libertarian and anarcho-capitalist, became a political outsider last year after a wave of anger over a decades-long economic crisis marked by debt, rampant money printing, inflation and budget deficits. He won a landslide victory in the elections.
Milay began his term by devaluing the peso by more than 50 percent, cutting state subsidies for fuel and transportation, cutting the number of ministries in half and abolishing hundreds of regulations to deregulate the economy. .
His substantial reform proposals touch on all areas of public and private life, from privatization to cultural issues, criminal law, divorce and the status of football clubs.
However, many Argentines had already risen up and went on strike less than two months into his term.
Reporting on Thursday's protests, Al Jazeera's Teresa Bo ruefully reported, “Miley promises austerity and reforms will curb Argentina's soaring inflation and revitalize the economy.”
But she said the unrest showed “how difficult the next few months will be and how the president intends to stand up to those who dare to oppose him.”
