Sawt Falasteen - Argentine football fans, protesters clash with police at pensions march

Scores of riot police used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon to try to disperse stone-throwing protesters, many of whom had turned out in football jerseys for the demonstration against President Javier Milei's austerity policies.

The demonstrators, many waving national flags and pictures of the late football great Diego Maradona, were met by a major security presence outside Congress, which was in session when the protests began.

Columns of riot police on foot, backed by officers on motorbikes, fought for over two hours to clear a central avenue of the protesters, who also threw fire crackers and stun grenades.

A car and two garbage cans were set on fire and the street barricaded with debris.

- 'Dictatorship' -

AFP saw at least two people being detained and local media reported two further arrests.

The protestors chanted "Out with them all" and "Milei, garbage, you are the dictatorship!", comparing his rule to that of Argentina's 1976-1983 military junta.

The protest is the latest in a years-long series of pensioner demonstrations, always on a Wednesday, that usually draw just a few dozen people.

This week, several football clubs called for a show of solidarity with pensioners, some of whom have been teargassed or baton-charged during previous protests over their collapsing purchasing power.

Fans of River Plate, Boca Juniors, Racing, Independiente and several other clubs joined the march.

Emotions have been running high in the South American country with the start of the trial Tuesday of seven medical staff accused of homicide over Maradona's death in 2020.

Maradona died alone in a rented house in Buenos Aires, where he was being cared for after brain surgery.

He died of heart failure and acute pulmonary edema.

His medical team are accused of having been criminally negligent in his care.

For the past week, calls to support struggling pensioners have been circulating with a video from 1992 of Maradona stating: "You have to be a real coward not to defend retirees."

"Ole, Ole, Diego, Diego," some of the protesters shouted.

While the pensioners have been protesting for years over their financial situation, their situation has worsened dramatically under budget-slashing Milei.

"We have to unite and take to the streets to defend our rights and our sovereignty," Patricia Mendia, 60, who was wearing a Quilmes club jersey, said as she marched alongside her 84-year-old mother.

Security Minister Patricia Bullrich posted a photo on her X account showing a line of police facing off protesters whom she dismissed as "hooligans."

Pensioners have taken the most pain in a year of drastic austerity by self-professed "anarcho-capitalist" Milei.

Pensions increases have fallen far short of inflation.

Nearly 60 percent receive only the minimum amount, equivalent to around $340 per month.

Last year, Milei vetoed a law that would have increased them by a fraction of the boost needed to maintain their purchasing power.

He has also scrapped price controls on medicines, forcing some pensioners to choose between feeding themselves properly and buying medication for chronic diseases.

N.Awad--SF-PST