“We
can’t let him divide us further.”
Argentine
soccer legend Diego Maradona is calling for unified resistance
against President Mauricio Macri’s neo-liberal administration.
“All of
us united together, we will return to what we once had — that is
the slogan we have to have,” Maradona said in a video released
Saturday, HispanTV reports.
“We
can’t let him (Macri) divide us further.”
The soccer
legend also praised Argentine bank worker and labor leader Sergio
Palazzo for his union’s recent wage hike win. The union, La
Bancaria, reached a deal with the four major banking corporations,
granting workers a retroactive 24-percent salary increase and a
one-time bonus payment in November of 2017.
The salary
boost is significantly higher than the inflationary ceiling for
salary increases in 2017 established by Macri’s right-wing
government. La Bancaria represents over 65,000 bank workers across
Argentina.
“Palazzo,
I want to give you a huge hug because you won and because you make us
feel closer and closer to what we can achieve,” Maradona also
said in the video.
Since taking
office in 2015, Macri has rolled back progressive government programs
instituted by former presidents Cristina Fernandez and Nestor
Kirchner.
Jobs are
being cut. Gas and electricity prices are rising. Government
institutions are downsizing. Private companies linked to the ruling
administration are getting tax cuts.
But Macri’s
rollback of social programs implemented by Kirchner’s populist
government is also breeding resistance.
Since early
February, thousands of Argentines have led daily protests across the
country against the “Tarifazo,” the national increase in gas and
electricity prices. Armed with pots, pans and whistles, demonstrators
have been calling for the resignation of Argentine Energy Minister
Juan Jose Aranguren and a corruption probe against Macri. Protesters
have been hosed down by water cannons, beaten with police
nightsticks, and arrested en mass.
Simultaneously,
thousands of Argentines have protested alongside 380 printing plant
workers who were laid off earlier this year amidst spending cuts. The
workers, who are demanding for their jobs to be reinstated, have also
been met with violence, facing rubber bullets from police.
Maradona is
one of many Argentines who have protested against Macri’s rule.
Source:
Comments
Post a Comment