On August 6, Argentine President Javier Milei made an official visit to Ecuador and met with his Ecuadorian counterpart, Daniel Noboa. He then traveled to the inauguration of Colombia’s new president, Abelardo de la Espriella. Milei has thus sought to lend his support to two ideological and regional allies of what some experts call “the new wave of the Latin American right.”
However, while the self-proclaimed “far-right” president tours the Andes, on August 6, thousands of Argentines took to the streets to protest against the government and its radical neoliberal agenda.
Read more:What is behind the shift to the right in Latin America?
Specifically, the protesters took to the streets to oppose a bill proposed by the executive branch that aims, among other things, to increase the percentage of land that foreigners can own in Argentina (the bill proposes raising the limit to 25% of the entire national territory), to streamline the process for evicting tenants with outstanding payments, and to eliminate the government’s ability to expropriate land in certain areas of the country.
The demonstration in front of the National Congress was attended by thousands of students, workers, political party activists, members of social movements, and representatives of the country’s largest labor unions, among others. The slogan displayed on dozens of signs and chanted by thousands of Argentines was “The homeland is not for sale.”
In the afternoon, a large number of state security forces, riding motorcycles and operating water cannons, decided to disperse the demonstration, using rubber bullets, water cannons, tear gas, and other crowd-control tactics.
Several media outlets have reported that more than 12 people have been arrested and at least five injured, including journalists covering the event, such as a reporter from La Izquierda Diario who stated that she was struck in the head, suffering a skull injury and bleeding from the ear.
Read more:Milei faces a new phase of opposition on the streets of Argentina
Meanwhile, inside Congress, legislators debated whether to approve or reject the reforms. The day before, in light of widespread opposition to increasing the limit on foreign land ownership, the government decided to set that specific article aside until it could secure the necessary support to pass it, according to senator and former security minister Patricia Bullrich.
However, the Milei administration scored a victory by passing legislation allowing for the expedited eviction of tenants with outstanding payments. According to the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS), in the midst of an economic crisis, the bill is problematic because: “it encourages an increase in forced evictions without assessing the proportionality of these decisions or seeking housing alternatives for vulnerable families.”
In Argentina, according to France 24, citing data from CELS, “57% of renter households spent more than half of their income on rent in 2025, nearly 20% more than in 2024,” which would indicate a loss of purchasing power in relation to housing costs.
Furthermore, the new law makes it more difficult for the government to expropriate property. Currently, expropriation is justified on the grounds of the “common good,” which leaves ample room for interpretation regarding potential claims by the government to seize property. Now, the government must specifically identify the objective being pursued, demonstrate the appropriateness of the expropriation, prove that no other option exists, and take other measures that several analysts have interpreted as a way to rein in the government and benefit private capital.
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