This Saturday, September 5, starting at 3 p.m., dozens of social, labor, student, and political organizations gathered at Lezama Park. Despite the heavy downpour that threatened to disrupt the event, the rally proceeded without a hitch, demonstrating the resolve and conviction of all the groups in attendance.
The main goal of the meeting was to outline the actions and organizational plans in the AMBA in preparation for the major “March of Anger”, scheduled for September 19 and heading toward Plaza de Mayo.
The meeting began with Mirta Israel presiding over the proceedings, who explained the participatory nature of the plenary session, while the opening remarks were delivered by Guillermo Pacagnini, a national leader of ANCLA and the MST, and Laura Cano, general secretary of CICOP at Cestino Hospital in Ensenada (PTS).
Pacagnini highlighted a highly significant political fact: 412 organizations have already signed on as co-sponsors of the September 19 march, and the goal is to continue expanding that base.
Representatives and leaders of the FIT-U parties spoke throughout the event, reaffirming their participation in this massive initiative that goes far beyond the scope of the electoral coalition. In this segment, among the leaders of the FIT-U parties who have been driving this initiative from the start, Christian Castillo (representative from the province of Buenos Aires for the PTS), Cele Fierro (MST deputy representing the City of Buenos Aires), and Ana Paredes Landman (member of the SUTEBA Matanza executive committee and provincial deputy from the MST). Alejandro Bodart and Vilma Ripoll were also present. Cele defended the initiative, explaining that those of us in the Left Front—particularly the MST and the PTS—who have been driving it forward from the very beginning wanted, and still want, it to be a massive and broad-based movement against Milei and all his accomplices in Congress and in the provincial governments. And that is why it is good for the entire FIT-U to be part of it and to call for action, given that this has already become larger and more representative. We are happy to have achieved this. We want to defeat Milei and also fight for a government of the working people.
In addition, Gabriel Solano (Partido Obrero), JuanCarlos Giordano (Izquierda Socialista), and Mónica Schlotthauer (Izquierda Socialista) also spoke.
Where We Come From and Where We’re Going
This day marked the culmination of a process that began with the first major spontaneous gathering at Facultad de Ciencias Sociales on August 13, followed by a massive virtual assembly that brought together more than 250 delegates from across the country. Today, the efforts of thousands of comrades who are putting their all into this are taking the form of grassroots assemblies, statements from militant unions, and coordination meetings in numerous cities throughout the country’s interior. It is important to note that, in parallel with this assembly in the rest of the AMBA, organizational meetings have been held, are currently taking place, and are scheduled in many provinces across the country to ensure that the march is truly a nationwide effort.
All of this work is aimed at filling the political empty space left by traditional leadership. Javier Milei’s administration is facing a deep crisis, plagued by tensions with parts of the establishment and its own political weakness. However, in the face of a political project that erodes wages, drowns families in debt, and destroys jobs, the institutional opposition and the union bureaucracy act as its guarantors. Peronism remains mired in internal strife, endorsing judges who grant impunity in the Senate, while the CGT leadership looks the other way. In the face of this scandalous complicity, the Parque Lezama assembly put forward a non-negotiable demand: to break the pact with the government and call for a massive, active national strike as a preliminary step toward defeating Milei and his government through a general strike.
First-Person Struggle
The plenary session served as a platform for all the struggles currently taking place across the country. One of the most significant moments was the speech by Norma Lezana, general secretary of the APyT at Garrahan Hospital. Lezana detailed the brutal campaign of persecution and the false dismissal orchestrated by the government against her, and announced that, following last Thursday’s assembly at the hospital, Garrahan workers voted unanimously to join and mobilize on September 19.
We must forge a path forward from the left and in the streets now, before the country descends into chaos, because 2027“is still a long way off.”
Solidarity was also strongly felt when Luciano Corradi, a worker laid off from GPS (Aerolíneas Argentinas), took the floor, and the comrades from the Granate list of SUTNA, along with Claudio Mora from the Gris list of SUTNA, who denounced the persecution they are suffering at FATE after 200 days of conflict. There wer also women workers from the recovered Wilder factory, who are fighting to defend 120 woeking positions.
The diversity of demands gave rise to a common agenda that encompasses all popular demands. Nina Brugo, a longtime leader of the National Campaign for the Right to Abortion, emphasized the importance of unity in the struggle. Speaking on behalf of the Mostri Collective, Marta Dillon described Milei’s administration as“a government of exclusion.”
The assembly also heard Paula Kaeser’s (Basta de Falsas Soluciones) strong condemnation of extractivism, the testimony of Néstor Saracho (Discas en Lucha), and the remarks by René Vázquez on behalf of the Bolivian community, denouncing the persecution of immigrants. The international perspective was represented by journalist Ramiro Giganti, who expressed support and solidarity with the Palestinian cause.
Before giving the floor to the student delegation, representatives from the PSTU and Democracia Socialista also spoke, contributing to the assembly’s debate.
Next, the youth spoke with the student bloc, where the spokesperson for the student council of the UBA’s Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, the group La Zurda, and the senior advisor of the UNA took the microphone.
The piquetero and labor union movement was represented by a large delegation, including prominent figures such as Mónica Sulle(Teresa Vive – MST), Chiquito Belliboni and Gloria Jaramillo from the Polo Obrero, as well as the Frente de Lucha de Guernica and the MTR 12 de Abril. Comrades such as Soledad Mosquera(General Secretary of Ademys) and the militant delegation from Suteba Matanza and Tigre also added their voices.
Resolutions and Next Steps Toward the Plaza de Mayo
Those present unanimously agreed to move toward a consensus document. To that end, the work of the Document Commission was endorsed to ensure that the political declaration to be read on September 19 represents all forces in a deeply democratic manner and is reproduced throughout the country. In addition, the following organizational meetings were scheduled for the coming days:
- Friday, September 11, at 4:00 p.m.: Meeting of the Documentation Committee (at the ALE office) and the Organizing Committee; same date and time, but the exact location is to be confirmed.
- Saturday, September 12:A major day of mobilization across the country.
The path has been laid out. The rain didn’t stop Parque Lezama, and Milei’s austerity measures won’t stop the working class. See you on September 19 at Plaza de Mayo and in every public square across the country.
