University. Who wants to see the student movement die?

The President comes out to greet the balcony on his birthday and is greeted by students who are part of public classes with their teachers. They insult him and sing to him “university, for the workers, and whoever doesn’t like it, gets screwed”. At least 200 UNA students dance to Lali’s “Fanático” at the Sarmiento railway station, singing against the government. “Take charge of the mess you created, Milei” they upload to social networks.

In Córdoba, driven by the Interfaculty Assembly with mandate of 10 assemblies UNC grassroots a march of more than 10,000 people Under an annoying drizzle they sing: “What a shit, what a shit, here we are marching the children of Cordobazo.” All of this happens despite the policies of the Student Federations, the leadership of the university unions (the majority led by Peronism) and the university authorities grouped in the CIN (composed of radical and Peronist rectors).

“The meeting to prevent the breakup of the UCR lasted 3 minutes: Tavela shouted “bitch” at Verasay and it was over. The fracture was delayed due to a renegotiation of positions in the block but everything exploded when De Loredo accepted a new invitation to the Casa Rosada.”

This is how he describes Online Politics the crisis and rupture in radicalism. The breakup of the UCR bloc has to do with the fact that the national deputy De Loredo (UCR/ Córdoba) sat down to “negotiate” with Milei some issues regarding the university budget. That among other things, which we surely will not know.

De Loredo tried to present as a supposed triumph of nothingness itself: an official commitment to modify the university budget section, without any specific amount for any item. And another abstract commitment, that the Educational and Scientific Financing laws are not suspended or annulled, which imply the State’s obligation to guarantee a budget equivalent to 6% and 1% of GDP respectively in areas. something that only was fulfilled once: in 2015.

To delve deeper into this topic, we leave you the intervention of our fellow national deputy Christian Castillo, in the Education Commission of the Lower House.

As well reported elDiarioAr“the Government agreed to change part of the wording of the 2025 Budget article that allocates $3.8 billion for universities. For now It is a cosmetic changewithout accepting the rectors’ claim of $7.2 billion so that the houses of higher education can operate next year.”

I mean, nothing. De Loredo is in tune with the Purple Strip in Córdoba, which is campaigning to reduce forceful measures in the UNC faculties without proposing any alternative fighting plan to defend education.

In the Psychology assembly, radicalism mobilized Law and Architecture students from their organization to prevent the continuation of the takeover of the faculty. Faced with the resounding defeat, some of those students, upset, fired pepper spray, something that was massively repudiated.

This is what Nazarena, a student member of the Arts assembly and activist of Imagination to Powerin an interview on the floor of Canal 10 in Córdoba.

What is called the “trade union front” -that is, the leadership of university teaching and non-teaching unions, the Argentine University Federation, led by sectors of radicalism and Peronism- does not propose any alternative struggle. Like CIN, They have not yet called a Third Federal Marchsomething that is demanded and sung in assemblies throughout the country. Currents that run student centers that are linked to Peronism say absolutely nothing about it. Including Patria Grande, which refuses to “take its feet off the plate.”

However, There are very good examples that can be mobilized from the grassrootslike those that emerged in Tucumán or Córdoba. There, from below, it was possible to mobilize mass sectors in defense of the universities, without waiting for the times of bureaucracies.

Peronism has an orientation that goes against developing the struggle. Máximo Kirchner’s definition was very clear: “We are going to face the vetoes in the elections.” He was encouraged to say this when 80 faculties were being taken and more than 100 assemblies were being held throughout the country. Today, faced with the expectations of the student movement that thinks about how to continue, there is an enormous silence on the university issue, which coincides with the noisy derision implied by the cause to which they dedicate 100% of their energy: the internal Peronist cause. Everything is nonsense, everything is wars of charges. Meanwhile, the youth fight.

“Where it is, that you can’t see, that famous CGT,” the students sing. One of them carries a hand-painted cardboard with a legend that says “The assemblies teach the CGT how to fight.”

The Interfaculty Assembly on Wednesday, October 16with about 800 people, representing 10 base assemblies, together with the Conicet assembly, built a march from below and even achieved unity with teaching, since the pressure from teachers to take this march into their hands forced the Adiuc dome to convene. The aforementioned poster refers to this experience.

While the students do not want to wait any longer, while examples of self-organization are given that build alternative paths to continue the struggle and that achieves actions with massive participation; The leaders and authorities do everything possible to ensure that this movement dies. They wait for the shots to wear out, they are already campaigning against the demoralization of the movement. “Milei is strong, what we are doing doesn’t even bother him,” say students organized in Peronist groups in assemblies, after a massive mobilization in Córdoba that was not called.

Tens of thousands of students are already looking angrily at the union and student leaders because they do not set a date for a Federal March.

It is clear that Milei, who has been on the defensive giving explanations in the media about the attack he is carrying out on public universities, has the support of different levels of radicals and Peronists.

We must be aware of who are the sectors that want the movement to die to trust only in our own strength. Let us strengthen the assemblies, let us coordinate in mandated interfaculties, let us seek unity with all those who fightthat the conclusions we draw will be useful to strengthen direct democracy and student worker unity. The fight has just begun, the path is built from below.

Finally, in the same note of elDiarioArMoriñigo, rector of the UNSL and president of the CIN, gave his thumbs up to the demand for salary recomposition of teachers and non-teachers for this year. In addition, he threw himself against the shots as a method of fighting. This is a leap in the attack on university workers and students.

Luca Bonfantea representative of the Faculty of Philosophy UBA and the youth of the PTS, declared “we repudiate the statements of the president of the CIN against the takeovers and saying that the demand for salary recomposition of teachers and non-teachers was already over. The student movement supports this claim and demands a federal march and a fight plan, now and it will be our flag for 2025. May our teachers and non-teachers recover what they lost!”

On the other hand, he questioned organizations that run student centers such as Patria Grande and La Cámpora: “Are you going to follow the path of the CIN, which has already delivered the salaries of teachers and non-teachers? Are you going to follow the path of the Strip? It is “the time for an independent organization. We continue to demand the Third Federal March but starting from this very harsh criticism and from demanding that we have to organize from below, in assemblies, bodies of delegates and interfaculties.”

THE TIMES OF CONGRESS ARE NOT OUR TIMES

It is evident that a sector of the university authorities and their student groups (radicals and Peronists) were bothered and uncomfortable that students from all over the country took the fight into their hands.

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— Luca Bonfante (@LucaBonfante98) October 24, 2024