Public university protests escalate in challenge to Argentina's President Milei

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — In a burst of adrenaline, the Argentine students charged into oncoming traffic.

Trucks screeched to a halt. Motorbikes swerved. Some drivers flipped their middle fingers, yelling insults. Others pumped their fists in solidarity, howling, “Public and free education!” as the University of Buenos Aires protesters took over lane after highway lane, their fear turning to gasping, giddy exhilaration as they chanted against libertarian President Javier Milei's university budget cuts.

“We're here for our teachers, to demand that they get decent salaries,” said architecture student Ivan Rocha, struggling to be heard over the singing and honking.

Last week's road blockades were the latest in a series of protests this month expected to intensify across Argentina in response to Milei's veto of a law increasing funding for public universities. Many professors began a 48-hour strike Monday.

After convincing centrist lawmakers to abandon their support for the teacher salary boost meant to compensate for sky-high inflation, Milei’s minority far-right government upheld the veto in the Senate earlier this month. The measure would have cost 0.14% of gross domestic product, according to a congressional budget analysis.

“It was a test of Milei’s strength, to show that he’s able to sustain a presidential veto," said Ignacio Labaqui, a Buenos Aires-based senior analyst at risk consultancy Medley Global Advisors. “It goes beyond a mere economic calculus."

The self-declared “anarcho-capitalist” president, who rode to power in November 2023 on a pledge to reverse decades of unbridled spending, has vowed to veto any attempt to undermine his zero-deficit program.

“They are only interested in their coffers to maintain their privileges,” Milei said after his legislative victory, attacking public universities as hotbeds of leftist radicals with too much administrative bloat. Authorities on Monday began an audit of how the immense University of Buenos Aires, or UBA, spends state funding.

For the chronically overcrowded and underfunded universities, which saw a 30% budget reduction during Milei's 10 months in office, the veto is seen as nothing short of a threat to Argentina's proud system of free tuition and open admissions — long a bedrock of middle-class advancement.

“We have reached a point that is unprecedented in the democratic history of our country, and, if this continues, we'll be at a point of no return,” warned Ricardo Gelpi, the rector of UBA.

Over the first weeks of October, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets across the country, from the gates of Congress to remote mountain valleys.

“It’s a fundamental right that I grew up with,” said Ivan Fleming, a 24-year-old student of education at the University of La Plata near the capital. “I feel that my own desire of being a teacher one day is under attack.”

Last week, hundreds of professors transformed the streets of Buenos Aires into open-air classrooms — delivering lectures through microphones to students who struggled to maintain focus as honking cars streamed past their wooden desks. On Tuesday, protesters plan a vast “teach-in” at Plaza de Mayo, the main government square, to demand that teachers' paychecks keep pace with inflation, which topped 290% earlier this year.

“Students are spearheading this movement, and if we win, it will be an example to workers and everyone else fighting for their salaries,” said 22-year-old University of Buenos Aires protester Micaela Fioresta.

That is what Milei hopes to prevent.

In April, a mass rally against education budget cuts swelled into one of the biggest showdowns of Milei’s tenure, marshaling an unusually wide cross-section of the Argentine public.

“He got a taste of the consequences in April and one would assume he wouldn’t want to engage in this conflict again,” said Marcelo J. García, director for the Americas at New York-based geopolitical risk consultancy Horizon Engage.

Under pressure in April, Milei increased the budget enough for universities to keep their lights on and elevators running.

But the raise to cover operational costs didn’t account for teachers' salaries — already low wages that shriveled by 24% between November 2023 and August 2024, according to the federation of university unions.

With Milei's shock therapy dragging an estimated 5.5 million more people into poverty in the last half-year, over 70% of teachers’ salaries now fall below the official poverty line, Argentina’s national council of universities estimates.

The government offered bumping teachers’ meager paychecks up by 6.8%. Unions have asked for 63.5%.

Universities warn of mass resignations as more teachers take their energies to private classrooms and lessons. The University of Qulimes in the Buenos Aires Province announced last week that critical resource shortages had forced it to suspend some course enrollment.

“We've had attempts to cut back spending before, but this is unlike anything I've ever seen,” said Ana Rusconi, a sociologist at the University of La Plata, who also teaches high school to augment her $200 a month professor's salary. “The protests now aren't even about moving forward, they're about recovering what the government stole from us.”

Associated Press reporter Almudena Calatrava contributed to this report.

A student sits inside an empty hallway inside the Faculty of Psychology as fellow students hold class outside in the middle of a street to protest President Javier Milei's veto of higher funding for public universities, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Students march to Congress to protest President Javier Milei's veto of a law to increase funding for public universities in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Aidé García, a retiree, joins students protesting outside Congress as lawmakers debate President Javier Milei's veto of a law to increase funding for public universities in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Economics students hold class outside in front of the University of Buenos Aires to protest President Javier Milei's veto of higher funding for public universities in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

Students exit the subway on their way to a rally outside Congress to protest President Javier Milei's veto of a law to increase funding for public universities in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Students hold class in the middle of a street outside the Faculty of Psychology to protest President Javier Milei's veto of higher funding for public universities, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Students hold class in the middle of a street outside the Faculty of Psychology to protest President Javier Milei's veto of higher funding for public universities, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Students and professors rally outside Congress as lawmakers debate President Javier Milei's veto of a law to increase funding for public universities in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)

Economics students hold class outside in front of the University of Buenos Aires to protest President Javier Milei's veto of higher funding for public universities in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

A student sits on the steps of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) under a banner that reads in Spanish, "Without decent wages, UBA doesn't work," protesting President Javier Milei's veto of a law to increase funding for public universities in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Students block a highway to protest President Javier Milei's veto of a law to increase funding for public universities in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Students hold class in the middle of a street outside the Faculty of Psychology to protest President Javier Milei's veto of higher funding for public universities, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

A medical student celebrates graduating from Argentina's University of Buenos Aires, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

Students gather at the University of Buenos Aires to brainstorm ways to protest President Javier Milei's veto of a law to increase funding for public universities in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Students Antonia Goycochea, left, and Iana Ferrari sit in the middle of a street outside the Faculty of Psychology during a protest against President Javier Milei's veto of higher funding for public universities, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Economics students hold class outside, in front of the University of Buenos Aires to protest President Javier Milei's veto of a law to increase funding for public universities, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Oct. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

NEW YORK (AP) — Broadway vs. Hollywood. Subway vs. Freeway. Judge vs. Ohtani.

New York neighbors who became cross-country rivals, the Yankees and Dodgers renew their starry struggle in the World Series for the first time in 43 years.

“I've always had that sense being here that there’s that underlying, craving for that,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Monday. “The stars will be out. The eyeballs will be watching and, hopefully, we can deliver on a great Series.”

Two of baseball’s most successful teams face each other starting Friday at Dodger Stadium, the Yankees coming off their 41st American League pennant and the Dodgers their 25th National League championship. New York is seeking its 28th World Series title but first since 2009, the Dodgers their eighth and second in a five-year span.

“When you’re playing for the Dodgers and playing for the Yankees, it better feel different,” LA manager Dave Roberts said at Yankee Stadium last June. “If not, you better do something different for a profession.”

Yankees pinstripes vs. Dodgers Pantone 294. The Bronx Bombers vs. the Dem Bums’ descendants. The granite-and-limestone of new Yankee Stadium on chilly autumn nights vs. Dodger Stadium in sunny Chavez Ravine, with the San Gabriel Mountains beyond the pavilions.

“It’s kind of what the people wanted, what we all wanted,” Dodgers star Mookie Betts said. “It’s going to be a battle of two good teams, a lot of long flights across the country.”

New York is 8-3 against the Dodgers in the most frequent World Series matchup, including 6-1 against Brooklyn and 2-2 since the rivalry became Big Apple against Tinseltown.

Mickey Owen, Al Gionfriddo, Cookie Lavagetto, Sandy Amoros, Johnny Podres, Don Larsen, Sandy Koufax and Reggie Jackson created indelible images in the matchup, which started in 1941 with one of the wackiest World Series turns.

Trailing 2-1 in the Series, Brooklyn led 4-3 with two outs in the ninth inning at Ebbets Field when Tommy Henrich swung and missed at strike three from Hugh Casey. The ball bounced away from Owen and rolled toward the Dodgers dugout as Henrich reached on the dropped third strike. Joe DiMaggio singled, Charlie Keller hit a two-run double and Joe Gordon added another two-run double later in the inning as the Yankees won 7-4 and went on to win the title in five games.

Lavagetto’s two-out, pinch walk-off double in the ninth ended Bill Bevens’ no-hit bid in 1947’s Game 4 and two games later Gionfriddo robbed DiMaggio of a tying three-run homer.

New York beat the Dodgers again in 1949, 1952 and 1953, frustrating the fans in Flatbush, but Brooklyn finally won the title in 1955 when Podres pitched a Game 7 shutout at Yankee Stadium and Gil Hodges drove in both runs. Amoros preserved the lead when he made a running catch of Yogi Berra’s sixth-inning drive in the left-field corner with two on and relayed to shortstop Pee Wee Reese, who threw to Hodges at first and doubled up Gil McDougald. Those players were celebrated in Roger Kahn’s 1972 book “The Boys of Summer.”

Larsen pitched the World Series’ only perfect game in 1956’s fifth game in the Bronx, Berra jumping into his arms after the final out, and the Yankees won Game 7 behind Johnny Kucks’ three-hit shutout in what turned out to be the last World Series game at Ebbets Field.

Walter O’Malley moved the Dodgers to California after the 1957 season, and Koufax had an interlocking “LA” on his cap instead of a “B" when he struck out a then-Series record 15 in the 1963 opener at Yankee Stadium. The rivalry didn’t resume until 1977 with the first of three matchups in a five-year span.

Jackson’s three home runs led the Yankees to a clinching win in 1977’s Game 6. The Yankees won another six-game Series the following year, highlighted by third baseman Graig Nettles’ diving stops on Reggie Smith, Steve Garvey and Davey Lopes.

Los Angeles lost the first two games in the Bronx in 1981, and then won four in a row — capped by a 9-2 victory that had Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda dancing. The defeat prompted Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, his hand bandaged after an alleged fight with Dodgers fans in a hotel elevator, to issue a written apology “to the people of New York and to the fans of the New York Yankees everywhere.”

Both teams feel the history created by their predecessors.

“You put that jersey on and those pinstripes, it just feels different,” Yankees slugger Juan Soto said.

Shohei Ohtani and Los Angeles took two of three when they met Aaron Judge and New York in a much-hyped series in June.

Roberts is reminded of the history when he approaches Dodger Stadium.

“I can’t believe I’m driving up Vin Scully Way, when I go to work,” he said. “It’s overwhelming, but I try not to let my head go there too often; I just try to do my job.”

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FILE - New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra (8) jumps into the arms of pitcher Don Larsen after Larsen pitched the first perfect game in World Series history, defeating the Dodgers 2-0 at New York's Yankee Stadium, Oct. 8, 1956. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - In this combo image, New York Yankees slugger Reggie Jackson hits home runs on three consecutive pitches from three different Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers in Game 6 of the World Series, Oct. 18, 1977. Here, from left, Jackson goes deep off Burt Hooton in the fourth inning. Then, he takes Elias Sosa out of the park in the fifth. And finally, he admires his eighth inning homer off Charlie Hough. (AP Photos/Ray Stubblebine, File)

FILE - Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Johnny Podres is lifted by catcher Roy Campanella (39) after the final out of the seventh and deciding game of the World Series at Yankee Stadium, Oct. 4, 1955, in New York. (AP Photo, File)

Los Angeles Dodgers memorabilia is seen near the Dodgers clubhouse, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)