BUENOS AIRES – Argentina’s struggling President Javier Milei suffered a new setback Thursday (Friday Manila time) as Congress overturned his vetoes of laws increasing funding for public universities and pediatric care.
Senators invalidated both vetoes, which had already been rejected by the lower Chamber of Deputies, bringing to three the number of laws upheld by Congress despite vehement opposition from the budget-slashing Milei.
The vote comes as Milei struggles to end a run on the national currency, the peso, in the run-up to crucial October 26 mid-term elections.
Outside Congress, about 100 people celebrated the results.
Psychology student Tomas Bossi said he was proud of the outcome.
“We’ve been fighting and resisting the government’s atrocious underfunding of national universities for over a year,” he told AFP.
The 54-year-old Milei, in power since December 2023, has been on the ropes since his party’s trouncing by the center-left in Buenos Aires provincial polls last month. AFP
Those elections, seen as a bellwether ahead of the mid-terms, shredded his aura of political invincibility and sent markets into a tailspin.
Last week, the US government announced it was in talks with Argentina on a $20 billion swap line aimed at shoring up the peso.
US President Donald Trump sought to buoy his close ally at talks in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, saying: “He’s doing a fantastic job.” AFP
