Sawt Falasteen - Argentina braves 24-hour strike as it awaits word on IMF loan

The stoppage kicked in at 00:01 am Thursday, hours after thousands protested Milei's spending cuts in Buenos Aires.

The capital's central Constitucion railway station was closed Thursday, the main Jorge Newbery airport deserted and bank branches shuttered.

National carrier Aerolineas Argentinas said 258 flights had to be scrapped, affecting about 20,000 passengers.

But low-cost airline Flybondi was not affected, and bus drivers were not part of the action.

This was the third general strike in budget-slashing Milei's 16-month-old presidency, called by unions to protest his brand of "chainsaw" austerity.

Milei had famously wielded a live chainsaw during his presidential campaign to symbolize the cuts he would make to the bureaucracy and social spending.

In office, he has slashed subsidies for transport, fuel and energy, fired tens of thousands of public servants and shuttered entire government departments.

The measures have reduced inflation and resulted in Argentina's first budget surplus in over a decade, but also tipped the country into recession and millions more people into poverty in the first months of Milei's government -- though official data shows the numbers improving.

Argentina has one of the world's highest annual inflation rates, but Milei's measures are credited with bringing it down from 211 percent in 2023 to 66 percent.

Unions say the positive macroeconomic figures belie the average Argentine's loss of purchasing power.

The strike was preceded by a peaceful march Wednesday in support of pensioners -- one of the groups hardest hit by Milei's brand of "chainsaw" austerity.

The protest action comes as Buenos Aires eagerly awaits news on a new $20 billion International Monetary Fund loan, which could come as soon as Friday.

The country already owes the lender $44 billion.

Milei says the money will allow his government to pay off its debts to the central bank and help "exterminate" inflation -- a key goal as the mid-term legislative campaign approaches with his party seeking to increase its representation in Congress.

His party will face its first test this Sunday in provincial elections in Santa Fe that are seen as gauge of support for the president's policies.

Santa Fe is the third-biggest electoral district in Argentina with about eight percent of the national electoral roll.

T.Khatib--SF-PST