President Milei rides tank in Argentine independence day parade

On Tuesday July 9, Argentine President Javier Milei attended a military parade in Buenos Aires, Argentina marking the 208th anniversary of Argentina’s independence from the Spanish monarchy in 1816. He had also attended the anniversary in Tucuman of the declaration of independence which was issued on the same day in 1816 in that northwestern Argentine city.

Both events were staged amid the Milei administration’s escalating offensive against the working class. This has taken a more and more concrete form as the regime maps out Milei’s version of a new “National Reorganization Process,” the official name adopted by the military dictatorship which ruled Argentina following a CIA-backed coup in 1976 for its Nazi-inspired agenda.

In January, Milei presided over a restructuring of the armed forces command, retiring 22 generals and creating a “unified logistic command” in which the military would play a direct role internally, as part of the country’s repressive apparatus, not just combatting drug trafficking and alleged terrorist attacks, but patrolling borders and repressing workers and students.

These changes, together with the upgrading of military equipment are considered essential as part of the government’s declared aim of becoming a “global partner” of the US-led NATO alliance.

The document, known as the May Pact, was signed by 18 governors (out of 23), the mayor of the city of Buenos Aires, and by Milei himself. None of the signers, except for Milei, belong to Milei’s political party. No matter, Peronists, Radicals and members of other right-wing bourgeois parties joined in endorsing the Pact.

Its ten points include: the sanctity of private property; slashing public spending; tax and tariff reforms “to simplify the lives of all Argentines” and promote trade; reduction in government subsidies to the provinces; “modern” labor and pension reforms; and unrestricted international trade to make Argentina a “player in the world market” once again. At the request of some of the governors, an additional point was added that ensures and “a useful and modern” educational system for all primary and secondary schools.