Police disperse march against property bill with tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon
Twelve people were detained on Thursday during clashes outside Argentina's Congress, at a demonstration called against the Inviolability of Private Property bill being debated in the Senate.
On Thursday, a protest against Argentina's Inviolability of Private Property bill erupted outside the country's Congress, resulting in clashes with police forces. Police detained twelve individuals during the unrest, charging three with assault and nine with resisting authority. The Security Ministry mobilized around eight hundred officers from federal forces and the Buenos Aires City Police to maintain order.
Preliminary reports indicate that four officers sustained injuries, including a gendarme who struck his head on a stone. Demonstrators also faced harm, with at least two receiving rubber bullets, several affected by tear gas, and one man sustaining a serious eye injury. The Buenos Aires Press Union and the Association of Press Photographers reported that a photojournalist suffered a head wound requiring treatment in the Argerich hospital; the origin of the blow remains unclear.
The nature of the protest's commencement varies among news sources. According to EFE, the demonstration remained peaceful until police positioned behind barriers initiated tear gas, rubber bullets, and water from cannon trucks. Other outlets suggest confrontations escalated after a group dismantled one of the barriers. La Nación reported the turning point occurred around 5 p.m., following six hours of peaceful protest when Federal Police unleashed gas against those attempting to breach the fencing.
During the demonstration, which started at noon despite rain, the CGT labor federation, CTA union groupings, the UTEP grassroots workers union, teachers unions, Peronist and left-wing organizations, students, and unaffiliated citizens united under the slogans "The homeland is not for sale" and "The land is not for sale, not to be burned, not to be evicted from."
Simultaneous protests occurred in La Plata, Rosario, Córdoba, Mendoza, Tucumán, Bariloche, and Ushuaia. Despite the governing bloc withdrawing the chapter easing rural land purchases by foreigners the previous day, the protest proceeded. Sergio Alarcón, a Peronist organization member, expressed their stance to EFE, stating, "We want this law not to prosper, not only the part about land but also the burning of forests and rents."
Deregulation Minister Federico Sturzenegger defended the withdrawn chapter, regretting its exclusion. The Senate approved the bill on Friday at 37 votes to 33, after also dropping the chapter amending the Fire Management Law. The text retains reforms on evictions, expropriations, and the Real Estate Property Registry, now moving to the Chamber of Deputies.
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