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aAfter just 45 days in office, the current Argentine president, Javier Millay, faced massive public mobilization against his policies. On January 24, nearly 200,000 people in the city of Buenos Aires and 500,000 people across the country protested against the bill known as the “omnibus law.” On this day of protest, for the first time in the history of the Argentine labor movement, the three main trade union federations called on cultural groups to take center stage in the marches. From the moment the new government’s first measures were announced, the cultural sector’s resistance on the streets was overwhelming. This led to them marching with large banners reading “Culture,” something that had never happened before in Argentina.
At an organizational meeting held at the Confederation of Labor (CGT) on January 16, CGT General Secretary Hector Dare explained how important this sector is. organization. “
“For the first time in history, the cultural sector is marching in cooperation with the Confederation of Labor,” filmmaker Adrian Jaime said during the January 24 march. As a member of the Cine Argentino Unido collective, he was one of the organizers of large-scale cultural events. Presence in mobilization.
The interdisciplinary collective not only contributed to the active resistance movement, but also to the beat of the trade union’s traditional drums, whose syncopation gave rhythm to the march. The cultural section incorporated carnival masks, performances, dance, and colorful artwork. They took to the streets with the conviction that it was a powerful tool for resistance. It is about expressing the joy that art brings from meeting communities on the streets.
Popular international award-winning author Claudia Pinheiro was joined in the mobilization along with popular artists such as Nacha Guevara, a singer and performer who took an active part in the counterculture experience and resistance to the dictatorship 60 years ago. “This mobilization is very valuable. We are a people who have always demonstrated peacefully in the streets, and we will continue to do so,” Pinheiro said of the protests.
Collective organizations born from past struggles
TThis cultural organization was first born in 2022, when the sector decided to organize under the slogan #NoAlApagónCultural (No to cultural blackout). This was the hashtag that united the movement and succeeded in protecting the nation’s investment in culture. The hashtag has resurfaced in recent months after Argentina installed a new government led by right-wing liberal Millais.
At that time, artists, cultural managers, and activists from various fields came together from all over the country to block the implementation of conservative proposals by then-President Mauricio Macri. In 2017, President Macri decided that all public funding laws for arts and culture would expire in 2022. This led to the end of funding for cultural activities such as audiovisual productions, theatre, national music institutes, popular libraries, and community and indigenous radio. station. In the fight for a law protecting cultural funds, the movement became one of the most active political actors against reforms that would have had a significant impact on Argentina at the time. The hashtag became a sign of resistance that continues today.
“The attack on culture is financial and ideological,” said Patricia Herrera, president of the Federal Cultural Council, a national body representing each state within the National Secretariat of Culture. ”It is a dangerous statement to criticize that taxpayers’ money is being “wasted” on aesthetically devoid of substance. [cultural work] Profitability must be demonstrated or eliminated completely.”
During the presidential campaign period at the end of 2023, Millais announced that public cultural institutions would be demolished or their funding cut off. These include the Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA), the National Theater Institute (INT), the National Institute of Music (INAMU), and the Public Media.
At the end of December, after taking office, Millais sent to Congress a bill consisting of 664 articles called “Ley de Bases y Puntos de Partida para La Libertad de los Argentinos” (Law on Bases and Starting Points for Freedom in Argentina). . The bill repeals or amends more than 300 laws.
A bill of this kind is unprecedented in the history of this country. The bill would have allowed the president to pass laws, sell all publicly traded companies, and amend the system without the participation of Congress during his four-year term. It hinders the production and export of energy resources and hinders investment in industrial development. In addition, the bill proposed, among many other amendments to Argentina’s legal system, to eliminate regulations on the use of airspace and communications frequency bands. Hundreds of laws that required considerable debate before being approved would have been changed in just two months of parliamentary debate.
Regarding cultural issues, this law proposed an almost complete dismantling of the current cultural promotion system. The government ordered the closure of two major institutions. One is the National Institute of Drama (INT), which promotes theater production across the country. the National Endowment for the Arts (FNA), which provides grants for artistic creation and training; FNA’s foundation supports people such as Jorge Luis Borges, the world’s most widely read and translated Argentine author, and Astor Piazzolla, the musician who revolutionized tango and transcended the boundaries of genre and style internationally. It was extremely important for my career. Its staff included world-renowned artists such as horror novelist Mariana Enriquez, who was named one of Time magazine’s favorites of 2023.
The bill also aimed to disrupt the music, audiovisual production, and independent publishing industries from promoting creation, training, and consumption. Regarding the National Institute of Cinematographic and Audiovisual Arts, “this proposal would significantly reduce INCAA’s independent funding, modify its promotional structure in a way that would be fatal to independent productions, and reduce the continued availability of professionals across the country.” “It eliminates training and discontinues the minimum necessary tools to ensure the dissemination and exhibition of national cinema,” according to a statement released by the Argentine Film Critics Association.
Regarding music, INAMU’s democratic and federal structure would be abolished, powers would be concentrated in the hands of presidential envoys, and its functions in the field of technical and artistic training would be blocked. A book law that has enabled hundreds of independent publishers to emerge in a country with the highest number of bookstores per capita in Latin America will also be repealed.
In the face of Millais’ proposals, the cultural movement of 2022 realized that the livelihoods of art production and citizens’ access to culture were once again at risk. The movement responded instantly. “The experience of 2022 made it possible [the Omnibus Law] That way we can be organized, vigilant and resist the current policies of the far right. We have organized multiple spaces with coordination networks from the north to the south of the country. This whole political-cultural movement is standing strong right now,” Jamie said.
In addition to proposing an omnibus law, the Millais government almost immediately attacked the cultural sector. The Ministry of Culture was abolished, the budget for 2023 was frozen, and cultural activities were relegated to the production of entertainment events concentrated in the city of Buenos Aires, even though the country’s inflation rate exceeded his 200%. The urge for the promotion of artistic creation, cultural administration, diverse cultural expression in local communities, and free public access to cultural objects that had long been established in the country’s cultural policy was set aside. Two months after the new government took office, 80 percent of culture sector officials have not yet been appointed, and the new culture secretary has no agenda.
Agencies representing writers, actors, directors, producers, theater owners, former cultural officials, and various federal organizations held meetings to organize resistance to the new government’s policies as soon as Millais took office. . More and more members attended the meetings, and their numbers increased throughout Argentina.
“We are not faced with a sectoral debate,” said Pablo Carlo, a national lawmaker from the Peronist party who is the author of the bill guaranteeing a cultural promotion fund from 2022. “The problem is much deeper, and no solution can be satisfied by culture alone.” In this spirit, cultural groups began to organize their actions accordingly.
For Pinheiro, “[Milei’s administration] I’m not interested in understanding what culture is. They identified specific issues to use as symbolic bargaining chips if they were not successful in improving the economy: women’s rights, legalized abortion, and cultural issues. ” She continued, “They claim that [these issues] It caused confusion and unnecessary expense. They cannot improve the economy, but they will not spend on “unproductive people”. That is the exchange of symbolic currency. ”
According to a report by the Parliamentary Budget Office, the fiscal impact of all the restrictions on the cultural sector proposed in the Omnibus Law would be 0.0004 percent of GDP. “The culture chapter is a chapter of clear ideological bias. All cultural industries create wealth, jobs and identity with minimal impact on budgets,” said producer Vanessa Ragone. Ta. El Secreto de Sas Ojos, the last Argentine film to win an Oscar. “If approved, film production in Argentina could become very difficult, especially for independents, first-time films, documentaries, etc., because it is unclear how funds and subsidies will be used. Because it is not.”
As a result of subsequent negotiations, more than half of the original provisions proposed in the bill were removed. On February 6, the government withdrew the bill in view of its clear defeat in the parliamentary vote. Now, the government has decided that instead of pushing this bill again, it will try to implement other decrees and “specific bills.” On the other hand, when it comes to cultural issues, we appoint ignorant administrators to head our most important institutions. It is suspected that the government will proceed to vacate these facilities without amending the current law.
The discussion goes beyond the possibility of obtaining funding for art production. Attacking culture doesn’t just mean attacking artists. As Hector Dale said at a meeting at the CGT headquarters: “Culture is the basis of the whole territory, because it is the anchor. It is what builds the identity of the people of the land. That’s why in order to destroy culture, you have to destroy culture.” People. ”
Daniel Cholakian I am a sociologist and journalist specializing in Latin America.