:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/N5ZJCNIIH5DGBOUC4IT4HBEQEI.jpg "Milei continues with his State reduction plan by announcing the closure of INADI")
In the midst of continuous strikes and social strikes organized in different parts of the Argentina During the last few weeks, the libertarian movement government Javier Milei continues with its strategy of reducing the size of the State and, in this way, reducing public spending, which has plunged the country into a serious economic crisis.
TO LOOK: Milei government eliminates state office against discrimination, xenophobia and racism, Inadi
In this sense, presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni announced Thursday that the National Institute against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI) and other public organizations will be definitively closed because “they are useless”.
“We started moving forward with the first of them. The first will be INADI. It has around 400 employees, offices spread across the country. These institutes also tend to be run by officials of dubious reputation”, said Adorni, who highlighted that these institutions have become “big political boxes”, where “political favors are paid” and “places to generate militant jobs”.
INADI was created in 1995, during the administration of Carlos Menem, and began operating two years later with the main objective of ensuring compliance with Law 23,592 on Discriminatory Acts. Currently, the institute has 400 employees and 43 branches across the country. Furthermore, it manages a budget of more than one billion pesos, which at exchange rates would represent around 1.3 million dollars.
During the presidential campaign, Milei assured that during the government of Peronist Alberto Fernández, INADI became an “instrument of ideological persecution” that aims to “control culture and even wants to regulate the way we should speak”.
The decision generated particular rejection among the opposition. The president of the Peronist Union for the Fatherland bloc in Congress, Germán Martínez, assured that Milei “is on his way to being the most discriminatory, xenophobic and racist in democratic history” with this decision. Members of LGBT+ organizations and sectors of the Argentine Jewish community, such as the Delegation of Israeli Associations of Argentina (DAIA), also rejected the decision.
“Discrimination in Argentina is a problem suffered by several groups… The decision to close it violates the protection of the right to equality and peaceful coexistence in our society, which is a global example,” said the DAIA in its account , formerly Twitter.
About INAD
Discrimination in Argentina is a problem suffered by several groups. This is why DAIA, together with other organizations, promoted the creation of INADI almost three decades ago.
The decision to close it violates the protection of the right to equality and…– DAIA (@DAIAArgentina) February 22, 2024
The presidential office responded by ensuring that INADI “had a superstructure that did not guarantee the efficiency of its work”, as demonstrated by the “7,000 processes without processing or resolution” that existed and of which 2,000 were resolved “in the last two months”. ” .
This new announcement comes amid a climate of social tension driven by unions and social movements dissatisfied with the measures taken by the government to face the deep economic crisis that Argentina is experiencing.
On Wednesday, the railway union paralyzed train service in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Region (AMBA). On Thursday, workers from the Federation of Argentine Health Workers Associations did the same, demanding salary improvements.
Today it is expected that around 500 road closures will be carried out in the country as a result of the strike by soup kitchens that demand a greater supply of food to continue operating in the face of the increase in citizens who have fallen into poverty due to high inflation. While on Monday, February 26th, a strike by employees of the State Trade Union Front, one of the largest in the country, is planned.
At the beginning of the week, the research institute Poliarquía published a national survey on the first two months of Milei’s government. In it, the libertarian maintains a popularity of 56%, which at first glance may seem positive, but which reflects the current tension when reviewing the numbers of his predecessors in the same period. “Alberto Fernández had 40 more points of positive evaluation than negative, Mauricio Macri got 32 more points and Cristina Kirchner got 41 more points in her second presidency”, notes the Argentine newspaper “La Nación”.
Another study, carried out by CB Consultora, also warns that Milei suffered a general decline in its image in AMBA, maintaining a positive balance in only three municipalities: Tigre, San Isidro and Vicente López. According to “La Nación”, the main factor in the drop in popularity among residents of the capital would be the response to the increase in transport fares.
Despite these adverse numbers, Casa Rosada seems to maintain confidence that its plan to reduce state expenses will soon bring good results. The surveys, this time, seem to support this path because 66% of those consulted by Poliarquía were shown to be in agreement with cutting public spending, although only 53% would be willing to involve an increase in tariffs or services such as public transportation.
Source: Elcomercio
I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.
