Tens of thousands of Argentines took to the streets on Wednesday, January 24, and many downed tools in a major challenge to President Javier Milei's budget-slashing policies just weeks after he took office.
Huge crowds gathered outside parliament in the heart of Buenos Aires for one of the biggest demonstrations in recent years, heeding the strike called by the South American country's main labor union, the CGT.
Protesters bore placards reading "The homeland is not for sale" and "Eating is not a privilege" as they marched to the beat of drums and the sound of exploding firecrackers and held aloft a giant effigy of Milei.
"We come to defend 40 years of democracy, defend the homeland," CGT leader Hector Daer told the crowd. "Walking around with a chainsaw is one thing, governing is another," he added in reference to Milei's frequent brandishing of a chainsaw on the campaign trail as a symbol of his envisaged public spending cuts.
Ten days after he came to power in December, the new president announced a set of sweeping reforms that lessened some worker protections, abolished a price ceiling on rent and lifted price controls on certain consumer goods, among other things.
Poverty levels in Latin America's third-biggest economy are at 40% and the country is battling annual inflation exceeding 200% after decades of financial mismanagement.
The main rally in the capital targeted Parliament, where lawmakers are discussing Milei's package of deregulation and economic reform, which many citizens fear will leave them vulnerable to exploitation, and poorer.
Demonstrations were also held in numerous other cities and towns, gathering thousands more. The CGT was joined in its call for action by smaller unions and civic groups, vowing to "not yield an inch of what has been achieved" in terms of worker and consumer protections, according to another CGT leader Pablo Moyano.
Air traffic was affected early by the strike, with Aerolineas Argentinas canceling nearly 300 flights "affecting more than 20,000 passengers" for a loss of about $2.5 million, according to the company. Protesters in Buenos Aires started dispersing peacefully after about three hours in the streets.
Shops and banks in the capital operated normally ahead of the general strike called from midday to midnight, and public transport was planned to run until 7.00 pm to bring protesters to and from demonstrations.
Security Minister Patricia Bullrich insisted on X Wednesday that "The country does not stop!" and claimed protester "mobilization is small compared to the number of people who have decided to go to work." No official strike numbers have been released.
The government has vowed to stick to its reform plan, and Bullrich denounced "mafia labor unions, managers of poverty, complicit judges and corrupt politicians... who resist the change democratically decided by society."