Scientists march against Milei's cuts wearing Albiceleste shirts

Hundreds of people gathered in Buenos Aires on Wednesday to protest funding cuts to science and technology made by President Javier Milei’s government, under the banner "I'm putting on the [national team] shirt for Argentina and our science."

Protesters demonstrated amid flags and jerseys in Argentina's sky-blue-and-white colours, less than a month after the end of the 2026 World Cup.

Argentina, under the leadership of head coach Lionel Scaloni and skipper Lionel Messi, finished as runners-up, losing the final to Spain.

"We're wearing Argentina's shirt because during the World Cup we all came out here to the Obelisk to celebrate. Well, now we've come to demand that the president fund science, technology and universities," said Laura Suad, 50, a research astronomer who specialises in the Milky Way.

Protesters say the scientific system has suffered sustained deterioration since the libertarian president took office in December 2023.

They are also demanding an extension of postdoctoral fellowships whose contracts expired in July, the confirmation of positions already awarded through competitive selection processes, and a salary increase.

"We can't keep doing research. A new student joined the group to do research and we don't have a computer to give them; we can't buy supplies at that level," Suad said.

The budget allocated to science and technology fell 43 percent in real terms between 2023 and 2026, while the sector's share of the overall budget also declined over the same period, according to government data.

Salaries for researchers and support staff at the CONICET scientific research council have lost 40.5 percent of their real value since November 2023, according to a recent report by Economía Política Ciencia (Science and Political Economy, EPC), a science-policy research group.

Political parties, trade unions and even some pensioners' organisations also joined the protest, arriving after their own demonstration over low pensions a couple of kilometres away, outside the national Congress.

The march coincides with the July departure of Darío Genua, who headed the national Secretariat of Innovation, Science & Technology.

Twenty-four Nobel laureates and other scientists recently signed a letter to Milei calling for the cuts to be halted.

– TIMES/AFP