The Senators from Argentinawithout debate and by show of hands, increased theirs Wages 170%, a decision that caused controversy this Friday because of the severe economic crisis that the country is going through, with inflation at 288% year-on-year and more than half of the population in poverty.
According to the vote, which took place at the end of a regular session on Thursday and lasted less than two minutes, the 72 members of the upper house will earn about 4 million pesos ($4,500) net per month, while the minimum wage today is in a historic apartment costs about 200,000 pesos (about $230).
The opposition blocs voted in favor, while pro-government senators and their allies did not raise their hands, although they provided for a quorum for the vote and did not ask for a nominal vote, a common practice when there is no consensus.
“It’s crazy because it doesn’t correspond to the salaries we have,” said Gabriela Quiroga, a 31-year-old clothing saleswoman, who told AFP that “companies don’t sell anything” and “more and more people are seen sleeping in bed.” “.
President Javier Milei said in a forum with businessmen in Bariloche (south) that the senators had been “exposed once again” and shared publications on his networks in which he called the lawmakers “cynical” and “hypocrites.”
Meanwhile, Economy Minister Luis Caputo wrote in X: “Shame about what happened yesterday in the Senate.”
Luis Juez, leader of the PRO bloc, allied to the ruling party, also did not raise his hand, declaring on his networks that the increase is “inappropriate and a disgrace at the moment in which society finds itself”.
One of the senators most targeted by the government was Martín Lousteau, leader of the opposition Radical Civic Union, who half raised his hand to vote in favor: the recording of the moment was shared by Milei in X more than 20 times.
For his part, Lousteau said in a radio interview that the measure was agreed upon by all senators and defended the increase: “A senator earned less than a tweeter for the president; He earned a third of what (presidential spokesman) Manuel “Adorni.”
This week it was announced that the presidential spokesman will have the rank of foreign minister with a salary equivalent to about $3,000, and that Karina Milei, Javier’s sister and secretary general of the presidential office, will have the rank of minister and will earn about $4,000. will earn dollars.
For its part, the ruling bloc in the Senate announced in a statement that it would present a project to reverse the increases.
The measure came at the same time as discussion began in the House of Commons over the new “Basic Law,” also known as the “Omnibus Law,” a sweeping package of government reforms whose approval could be crucial to the government’s plan. by Milei.
SPRING: AFP