Students and lecturers march in Argentina's capital over university funding

Students and lecturers march in Argentina's capital over university funding
A demonstrator throws an object during a protest in support of the Argentine university community, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 15 October 2026.
Reuters

Students, lecturers and university staff marched on Argentina’s Congress in Buenos Aires on Thursday to demand President Javier Milei’s government implement a university funding law which would boost staff salaries and increase financial support to institutions to cover operating costs

“We demand that the government comply with the law once and for all,” said one of the university representatives.

Police used tear gas to disperse protesters, local media reported, while authorities erected barriers around the country’s parliament and restricted traffic access to the area.

Why is the funding yet to be released?

Argentina’s Congress approved additional inflation-linked funding to universities in August 2025, but Milei vetoed the law the following month. The government argued the bill did not specify where the money for the extra spending would come from. Argentina’s upper house rejected the veto in October 2025.

While Milei’s party is the largest political force in both chambers, it doesn’t have an absolute majority in either.

Argentine President Javier Milei speaks in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 16 July 2026.
Reuters

Milei subsequently approved the law but added a condition saying it wouldn’t be enacted until funding was found. Universities and unions challenged that condition in court. 

A court battle followed and in June Argentina’s Supreme Court upheld a decision ordering Milei’s government to apply the salary and scholarship provisions of the law. However, the government has still yet to fully implement the legislation. 

The protests in Buenos Aires on Thursday were part of a wider nationwide day of demonstrations, with trade unions, opposition parties and social organisations gathering in other cities across Argentina to demand funding for higher education.

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