The agenda of the legislators will resume the debate at 12:00, local time, after a first day marked by complaints from representatives of Unión por la Patria, the Left Front and other groups, and by a mobilization outside the seat of Congress, in front of which a strong police setup was deployed.
Hundreds of riot police carrying batons and shields, motorized police and water cannon trucks were positioned in the vicinity of the legislative headquarters in order to prevent a mobilization of organizations such as the Polo Obrero (PO) and the Socialist Workers’ Movement.
The leader of the PO, Eduardo Belliboni, reported having received blows that made it difficult for him to breathe. “They repressed me. We were sitting and they kicked me very hard in the back. They left me gasping for air. It is unusual that there are so many police officers to prevent a demonstration,” he told the local press.
The former presidential candidate Juan Grabois urged support for the people who participated in the initiative: “In face of the excessive intimidation of peacefully mobilized citizens and the obscene subjugation of the Constitution, we call from Argentina Humana to exercise non-violent resistance. Let it be clear: we are not afraid,” he said.
The demonstration continued into the night and self-convened citizens joined in, shouting “The Homeland is not for sale” and “No to the DNU” (in reference to a decree of necessity and urgency signed by Milei)
Unión por la Patria deputies such as Sergio Omar Palazzo and Cecilia Moreau described as “inconceivable” the fact that legislators still do not have an opinion on the Law of Bases and Starting Points for the Freedom of Argentines.
Palazzo declared: “I raise the need to have a definitive document. First there were 664 articles, then through the opinion of the majority 525 were left, and a moment ago they eliminated 164. It is absolutely irregular.” In turn, Moreau demanded to know what is being voted on. “This is unprecedented. It never happened in democracy,” he asserted.
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