The China Mail - Argentine football fans clash with police at pensions march

Riot police used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon to disperse stone-throwing demonstrators, leading to at least 20 injuries and more than 100 arrests, city authorities said.

Many of those involved in the clashes wore football jerseys and the regular protest turned out to be one of the most violent demonstrations yet against President Javier Milei's budget-slashing policies.

The crowd chanted "Milei, garbage, you are the dictatorship!" -- comparing his rule to that of Argentina's 1976-1983 military junta -- as clashes erupted near the Congress building and the landmark Plaza de Mayo.

Among the injuries, the most serious was to photojournalist Pablo Grillo, seen in social media videos bing hit by a projectile while taking pictures. His father Fabian told local press that his wounded son's life was in danger and blamed Milei's government.

The demonstrators, many waving national flags and pictures of the late football great Diego Maradona, were met by a major security presence outside Congress, which was in session when the protests began.

Columns of riot police on foot, backed by officers on motorbikes, fought for over two hours to clear a central avenue of protesters who threw firecrackers, stun grenades and stones taken from broken-up sidewalks.

A patrol car and garbage cans were set on fire and several streets barricaded with debris.

A video of a police officer pushing and hitting an elderly woman who fell to the ground, her head bleeding, has been widely shared on social media.

- Show of solidarity -

The protest is the latest in a years-long series of pensioner demonstrations, always on a Wednesday, that usually draw just a few dozen people.

This week, fans of several football clubs called for a show of solidarity with pensioners, some of whom have been teargassed or baton-charged in recent protests over their diminishing purchasing power.

Supporters of River Plate, Boca Juniors, Racing, Independiente and several other clubs joined the march.

After Wednesday's clashes were over, residents banged pots and pans in various parts of the city, blocking streets and singing songs against Milei and National Security Minister Patricia Bullrich.

Emotions have been running high in the South American country with Tuesday' start of the trial of seven medical staff accused of homicide over Maradona's death in 2020.

Maradona died alone in a rented house in Buenos Aires, where he was being cared for after brain surgery.

He died of heart failure and acute pulmonary edema and his medical team is accused of having been criminally negligent in his care.

For the past week, calls to support struggling pensioners have been circulating with a video from 1992 of Maradona stating: "You have to be a real coward not to defend retirees."

"Ole, Ole, Diego, Diego," some of the protesters shouted Wednesday.

"We have to unite and take to the streets to defend our rights and our sovereignty," 60-year-old Patricia Mendia, who was wearing a Quilmes club jersey, said as she marched alongside her 84-year-old mother.

Bullrich posted a photo on her X account showing a line of police facing off with protesters whom she dismissed as "hooligans."

Pensioners have taken the most pain in a year of drastic austerity, with pension increases having fallen far short of inflation.

Nearly 60 percent of retirees receive only the minimum amount, equivalent to some $340 per month.

Last year, Milei vetoed a law that would have increased pensions, albeit by less than inflation.

S.Wilson--ThChM