Argentine government to bill protesters for security costs

The organisers of the first protest against Argentine President Javier Milei’s government will have to cough up tens of thousands of dollars to cover the cost of security forces deployed to the demonstration, the government’s spokesman said on Dec 22.

Thousands turned out for the march on Dec 20 to oppose Mr Milei’s austerity measures and commemorate the deadly 2001 protests that followed the country’s economic meltdown, AFP reports.

Spokesman Manuel Adorni said a heavy deployment of police, paramilitary officers and anti-riot forces cost 60 million pesos (S$98,000). “The bill will be sent to the social movements”

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who will “bear the responsibility of the cost which should not fall on citizens”, he said. Organisers had criticised the heavy show of security as an attempt at provocation. “This reminds me of the dictatorship” of 1976 to 1983, said leftist movement Polo Obrero leader Eduardo Belliboni.

The security operation was supervised from police headquarters by the right-wing president’s Security Minister Patricia Bullrich, televised images showed.
Mr Milei’s government has sought to clamp down on hundreds of annual traffic-clogging demonstrations in the capital and threatened to withdraw social assistance from those who block roads.