By PSTU-Argentina
The government bill has been withdrawn and, according to official statements, will not be presented again. The “Necessity and Urgency Decree” was struck down by the courts.
They did not manage to vote on it, despite the will of the opposition, which was supportive of the law in general. This is also despite the attitude of Peronism and the CGT, which opposed it but did not mobilize in the streets to totally defeat the government.
The working class and the people have won an important round against the projects of Milei, the capitalists, and the IMF. We say round because the struggle has not been won. There is no doubt that Milei will come back with his “chainsaw” in another way and will try to impose his measures at all costs.
He has declared war on workers and national sovereignty, in a project shared by all national and multinational businessmen. We have won a battle, but the war will continue until we finally defeat him.
What Happened?
The huge strike and mobilizations provoked a crisis that “swept away” a minister and complicated negotiations.
The actions of the CGT, despite the distrust of its leaders, became a point of reference for wide sectors of the culture, the popular assemblies, the left, and many who mobilized independently. This was a clear demonstration of the working class’s will to fight.
The working class’s actions raised the possibility of a resounding defeat of Milei and his policies, which is why it is necessary to continue with new measures and a plan for struggle.
But the CGT “put on the brakes,” and allowed the ruling party to pull itself together and go back on the attack, thus letting the lower house approve of the bill in general terms on Friday. It was a new and real betrayal by the union leaders, who were wiped out of the demonstration the next day. Grabois appeared for a short time, as if “ready for his closeup.” Guillermo Moreno, who is very good at talking on TV, did not appear, nor did he call for a mobilization. And Cristina was against the strike and kept her mouth shut. They did nothing.
This approval of the bill in general terms by the lower house showed that we cannot have confidence in Congress, nor in the judiciary, nor in the Peronist politicians who only care about the next elections. We can only trust in the strength of the workers and popular mobilizations.
But the Law was Struck Down in the Article by Article Approval Process
The cuts imposed by the IMF and the greed of the government and its capitalist friends were so great that even the cowardly and submissive opposition deputies had to “prune” the law. It was a real fight between the bosses, a fight between vultures to share what they can take from the people with wage cuts, tariffs, adjustments, and hunger. They all agree when the “chainsaw” is directed against the workers and national sovereignty, but not so much when it affects them.
And in the midst of the fight, they ended up reducing the law so much that Milei gave up and acknowledged the bill had to return to committee.
So What’s Next?
The worst conclusion would be to trust that Congress will stop the government again next time. On the contrary, they are anxious to support it because they represent a capitalist class that needs to deepen the exploitation of workers and the plunder of national resources at the expense of the environment and communities. And in order to accomplish this, they are willing to limit the democratic rights of the people and to curtail our capacity to resist. They are a den of thieves, capable of going to any lengths to get what they want.
They will return to the negotiating table and, one way or another, they will return to their support Milei’s policies of starvation, capitulation, and repression. They are the reason why there exists the possibility that the war will be won by the businessmen, the IMF, and this government.
We have to take advantage of this blow to the government to draw up a plan of struggle for the entire working class.
The left was present and denounced the law, which was what it needed to do, but it does not have enough strength to stop this. Bullrich even took the pleasure of reviving the “repressive protocol,” which was in fact useless in the face of large mobilizations by workers. Only the workers and their organizations that are united, organized, and leading those who will be most affected by the project that Milei will not abandon, can completely defeat the government in this war.
It is a war: they win or we win. There is no possibility of a draw.
Strike and Immediate Plan for Struggle
The mass mobilizations showed the willingness of our class to fight.
Faced with increases in transportation, food, school supplies, health care, it puts all workers, regardless of who they voted for, in the position of needing to fight to recover what they have lost, until they reach a salary that is equivalent to the family basket adjusted monthly according to inflation.
State workers are fighting against dismissals. The oil workers and fishermen of Chubut are in a state of war, facing repression and the persecution of their leaders. Many unions, such as the metalworkers, receive a minimum wage that is below the poverty line. Throughout the country, workers are preparing to confront the bosses’ offensive and fight for wages.
It is time to resume the fight for a new national strike and a plan of struggle until the government is defeated.
Activists and leaders must take up the struggle again. We must hold assemblies in all factories, companies, schools, and departments, to prepare this plan of struggle. Either the CGT will call for it, or we will do it ourselves from the rank and file.
We should prepare through democratic organization, assemblies, mandated plenaries, commissions, and committees, we must visit other factories, join neighborhood groups, and convince those who still have some hope in Milei as well as those who are afraid to go out to fight because they distrust the treacherous leaders. We must also prepare strike funds in order to have resources for the struggle.
We must also organize to resist, confront, and defeat the government’s repression with whatever it takes. We cannot naively allow them to dissolve our mobilizations with pepper spray, gas, and rubber bullets. We have vehicles, we know how to use machines, we have the means to cripple their motorcycles. It is time to organize ourselves to defeat their “protocol” against the workers’ struggles.
For a Workers and People’s Project
As we organize and demand a united struggle from the unions, we also have the opportunity in workers’ assemblies to democratically discuss the measures and the plan that the workers and the people need.
Our measures should include the need to adjust those who should be adjusted: those who do not pay taxes and those who live off the exploitation of workers. We have to expropriate the big capitalists, put an end to the fraud that is the foreign debt, nationalize the land and mineral resources, establish a single national bank, and expropriate the others so that the whole economy functions at the service of a national economic development project for the benefit of the majority.
That is to say, we need a true socialist revolution, the only change that is truly in favor of the people, against Milei, and the businessmen who support him.
