Friends of the Earth International stands in solidarity with socio-environmental, feminist, labour, and Indigenous Peoples’ movements in Argentina that suffered a despicable act of repression on 12 June, which left more than 600 people injured and 35 arbitrarily detained. Four of these people remain detained in maximum security federal prisons for having exercised their legitimate right to demonstrate.
Anti-protest protocol: regressive laws, poverty and cruelty
The demonstration follows six months of Javier Milei’s extreme right-wing government, which has raised the poverty rate to 55.5% and extreme poverty to 17.5%. There is a constant attack on workers and national sovereignty through the flexibilisation of labour law and the imposition of laws and decrees that are severely regressive in relation to rights. Furthermore, attempts are being made to grant the president superpowers and to completely liberalise the actions of extractive transnational corporations.
Using the “Anti-Protest Protocol”, and with covert agents creating turmoil, the Armed Forces advanced on the demonstrators with water tanks, rubber bullets and pepper spray, and arbitrarily detaining people at random. Those detained revealed that they were subjected to abuse while in prison, including pepper spray, hitting, and forced undressing. This is in addition to facing charges of terrorism and attempted coup d’état. The Federal Judiciary’s new ways of acting set a serious precedent for future mobilisations; the prosecution of demonstrators marks a dangerous intensification of the criminalisation of protest and endangers the democratic system.
Increasing repression in Argentina to demobilise people
While repression of peaceful demonstrations is part of the new national government’s way of working, the accusations of seditious and terrorist plans and the judicial attempts to validate this claim mark a critical turning point that indicates that those who mobilise no longer have rights or guarantees. This reveals the escalation of the economic, symbolic and political violence that has been taking place in Argentina for the last six months, ever increasing and without interruption. Those detained are students, workers and social activists.
This is happening in addition to a systematic plan to stigmatise organised social movements in the media and the suspension of subsidised food deliveries to community kitchens.
Internationalist Solidarity
Worldwide rejection of Javier Milei’s inhumane policies is multiplying around the world. Demonstrations were recently held in Spain and Germany during his visits there, where he travelled with Argentine State funding to support right-wing expressions in those countries.
Social, environmental, labour, feminist and popular economy movements in Argentina and around the world are on alert. We call on the international community to exercise internationalist solidarity, demanding immediate freedom and dropping of charges of all those detained. We also demand an immediate end to State violence, respect for democracy and an end to the criminalisation of protest.
Source: https://www.foei.org/stop-the-repression-in-argentina/