BUENOS AIRES, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Argentine unions and social organizations took to the streets here on Wednesday to protest against President Javier Milei's recent economic reforms.
The march, which began at the square in front of the Palace of Justice, ended with at least six people arrested and a police officer injured.
The General Confederation of Labor (CGT), a national trade union federation in Argentina, and other organizations called for the protest to reject the Decree of Necessity and Urgency signed by Milei to "deregulate" the country's economy.
"The decree goes against the workers and the country," said CGT leader Pablo Moyano of the truckers' union.
Speaking to local media, Hector Daer, a leader of the CGT, said that political, legal and street-level tactics are needed to overturn the decree.
During the protest, activists read aloud a document that warned of the decree's "fierce regressive labor reform," saying it included measures that were "arbitrary, unconstitutional and harmful to a vast number of civil, commercial and social rights."
The march mobilized people from various sectors, with construction and metallurgy union members marching alongside truck drivers, bank employees, healthcare workers and public-sector employees.
A day earlier, Milei said "good Argentines" were willing to face his administration's austerity measures.
In an interview with television channel La Nacion Mas, the president stressed that the economic situation he inherited when he took office on Dec. 10 "requires measures that, in the eyes of a conventional observer, seem bold, but the risk of not taking the bull by the horns quickly would be tremendous."
During his presidency, the libertarian politician slashed the number of national ministries in half, from 18 to 9, devalued the national currency, froze public-sector hiring and scrapped subsidies for public transit fares and energy rates.
Milei's decree repeals regulations that prevent the privatization of public-sector companies and introduces reforms to facilitate international trade.
"We are bent on doing this. If it goes wrong, it explodes. But if we do nothing, it also explodes," said Milei, adding that if Congress rejects the decree, he will call for a "plebiscite or a popular consultation" so the people can decide.
Milei has criticized the recent demonstrations, saying that those who protest his policies do so because "they cannot accept that they lost" the presidential elections. ■
