The cuts to free public universities triggered mass demonstrations throughout the country, reflecting the growing social unrest surrounding President Javier Milei’s economic policy

The massive marches on Tuesday in defense of public universities in Argentina mark a turning point in the presidential mandate of Javier Milei. During his first four months in power, Milei has made sweeping decisions aimed at eliminating the fiscal deficit and shrinking the state: he has paralyzed public works, closed state agencies, fired tens of thousands of officials, and lowered pensions and salaries. Each new measure has found detractors and backers, but Milei’s privatization agenda seems to have found its first limit: the public university.

In a country wracked by economic crises and political discontent, free public higher education is one of the few pillars still standing. The working- and middle-class cling to it as a way for them to imagine a better future for their children. The images of classes taught in classrooms without light or outside the faculties due to the lack of funds to pay for electricity have outraged both Peronists and left-wing voters — on the opposite side of the political spectrum to Milei — as well as voters from groups closer to the government, including radicals and supporters of former president Mauricio Macri, and even Milei voters who now regret their support.