International
Milei presents package of laws to Congress on day of demonstrations against him
December 28 |
The President of Argentina, the ultra-liberal Javier Milei, presented this Wednesday to Congress a package of laws, texts which contemplate the deregulation of the economy after the decree approved by the President last week, measures which provoked demonstrations against him and which so far resulted in six arrests.
Convened by the main labor centers, thousands of people gathered in front of the Palace of Tribunals in Buenos Aires to demand that the decree published last week to reform or repeal more than 300 regulations be declared unconstitutional.
“We do not question the legitimacy of President Milei, but we want him to respect the division of powers. Workers have the need to defend their rights when there is an unconstitutionality,” Gerardo Martínez, secretary general of the construction union, one of those who led the demonstration which was also joined by social organizations, told the press.
This initiative will come into force on Friday, within the framework of a strong fiscal adjustment that has already implied a devaluation of the peso of more than 50%.
“We have come to say no to the decree because it takes away one of the powers of the State, the Congress”, said to AFP Adrian Grana, one of the demonstrators for whom the presidential initiative “is a decalogue to favor the powerful to the detriment of the people”.
The demonstration developed peacefully until after midday, when a group of people had small altercations with police officers who were trying to prevent them from closing a street.
Six demonstrators were arrested, according to the press.
The Minister of the Interior, Guillermo Francos, delivered to parliament a draft “omnibus law”, which includes a reform of the electoral system and the tax system, in addition to allowing the privatization of public companies, among other measures.
“We promote these reforms in the name of the May Revolution of 1810 and in defense of the life, liberty and property of Argentines,” Milei wrote in his X account when announcing the legislative project that completes his decree.
Congress opened extraordinary sessions on Tuesday to deal with these laws.
Milei, who took office on December 10 with the promise to reduce State spending, has already announced that he will not renew the contracts of 7,000 public employees.
The President hopes that the adjustment of public spending will reach the equivalent of 5% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The decree limits the right to strike, modifies labor agreements and the system of severance pay, also repeals laws protecting consumers against abusive price increases when annual inflation exceeds 160% and 40% of the population live in poverty.
“Today we are going to court, but there is another chapter focused on the Congress that will have to give a deep debate” on the content of the decree, said Gerardo Martinez.
The union leader urged the government to “form a collective tripartite dialogue table with employers and unions, as other countries that have gone through a severe adjustment have had”.
The Congress, where the ruling party is the third minority, can invalidate the decree, but this would take several months.
The initiative repeals the retirement mobility law and the law regulating rents, frees the price of bank commissions and punitive rates for debts and allows sports clubs to become corporations.
“It is destructive of all labor rights. The Argentine people elected Milei as president of the Nation, not as emperor,” criticized Martín Lucero, a 45-year-old teacher who came from Rosario to support the march.
Last week the courts opened a file to analyze a collective appeal against the decree.
“All the measures go right through me, they are going to starve us,” said Sofía Julián, a 33-year-old employee who came to the march from the southern outskirts of Buenos Aires. “We are united and organized and we are going to continue fighting to oppose the decisions taken by this government against the Argentine people,” she added.
International
Trump criticizes Panama Canal fees and demands U.S. control over strategic waterway
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump criticized what he described as unfair fees imposed on American ships passing through the Panama Canal and threatened to demand that Washington take back control of the strategic waterway.
“Our Navy and commerce have been threatened in a very unjust and reckless way. The rates that Panama charges are ridiculous,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
The president-elect also denounced the growing influence of China in the canal, a situation he called concerning as U.S. businesses depend on the waterway to transport goods between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
“This complete scam against our country will end immediately,” he stated.
The Panama Canal, completed by the United States in 1914, was handed over to Panama under the 1977 treaty signed by Democratic President Jimmy Carter. Panama took full control of the commercial passage in 1999.
“It was exclusively for Panama to manage, not China or anyone else,” Trump said. “We would never allow it to fall into the wrong hands!”
“If Panama cannot guarantee a ‘safe, efficient, and reliable’ operation of the canal, we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us in its entirety, without a doubt,” the Republican added.
Panamanian authorities did not immediately respond to Trump’s statements. While he will assume office on January 20, Trump has been exerting his political influence in the final days of President Joe Biden’s administration.
Five percent of global maritime trade passes through the Panama Canal, which allows vessels traveling from Asia to the U.S. East Coast to avoid the long and dangerous route around the southern tip of South America.
The countries that use the Panama Canal the most are the United States, China, Japan, and South Korea.
In October, the Panama Canal Authority reported earnings of nearly $5 billion in the last fiscal year.
International
Putin vows retaliation following drone attack on luxury building in Kazan
Russian President Vladimir Putin promised more “destruction” in Ukraine on Sunday, in response to a drone strike that hit a residential building in the city of Kazan, located in central Russia, on Saturday.
Russia accused Ukraine of launching a “massive” drone attack, which struck a luxury apartment block in Kazan, about 1,000 kilometers from the border.
Videos shared on Russian social media show drones hitting a high-rise glass building. No casualties have been reported as a result of the attack.
In his statements, Putin addressed the local leader of Tatarstan, the region where Kazan is located, during a virtual ceremony marking the opening of a road.
The attack in Kazan is the latest in a series of increasingly frequent bombings in this nearly three-year-old conflict. Ukraine has not commented on the attack.
Putin had previously threatened to strike the center of Kyiv with a hypersonic ballistic missile in response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory.
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the recent Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities were retaliation for Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied missiles to target Russian territory.
International
Small plane crashes in Gramado, Brazil, killing nine people
At least nine people were killed on Sunday after a small aircraft crashed in a commercial area of the tourist city of Gramado, in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, authorities confirmed.
“There are nine confirmed deaths according to Civil Defense services, and there are no survivors from the plane,” said Cléber dos Santos Lima, director of the Interior Police Department of the Civil Police of the state, in a statement to AFP.
Authorities have not yet confirmed the exact number of passengers and crew aboard the aircraft, a turbo-prop Piper Cheyenne 400. However, Civil Defense had previously stated that “preliminarily, the plane was carrying ten people.”
The plane crashed on Sunday morning “into the chimney of a building, then onto the second floor of a house, and finally fell onto a furniture store,” according to a statement from the Rio Grande do Sul Public Security Secretariat.
Trump criticizes Panama Canal fees and demands U.S. control over strategic waterway
Putin vows retaliation following drone attack on luxury building in Kazan
Small plane crashes in Gramado, Brazil, killing nine people
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