Despite the efforts of the unions and related organizations, the march didn't achieve the mass turnout they intended.
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The Federal Health March, promoted by union sectors and organizations aligned with Kirchnerism, had a turnout below expectations and highlighted the paradigm shift driven by Javier Milei's government.
While the demonstrators attempted to establish the narrative of an alleged dismantling of the healthcare system, the Minister of Health, Mario Lugones, was blunt: "They march because their privileges have ended."
A weak turnout and a society that no longer supports
Despite the efforts of unions and aligned organizations, the march did not achieve the mass turnout they intended. The central mobilization in Plaza de Mayo had lower attendance than in previous editions, reflecting a change in the citizens' stance, which seems to have stopped supporting this type of demonstration.
En la vereda y sin cortar las calles
The Ministry of Health assures that the criticisms come from sectors that benefited from a system of intermediations, overpricing, and activist employment, practices that the new administration is dismantling.
"The decline in which we received the healthcare system is explained, among other things, by the privileges that existed. We are reversing it so that healthcare in Argentina returns to being of quality", stated Lugones.
The adjustment of privileges in the healthcare system
Lugones's administration has implemented a series of measures aimed at organizing public accounts and eliminating corruption niches within the healthcare system. Among the most significant changes are:
Elimination of intermediations in social works, which drained funds inefficiently.
Correction of overpricing in bidding and purchasing of medications.
Reduction of function duplicity and eradication of activist employment.
Increase in salaries for healthcare personnel and better access to medications.
These adjustments allowed saving billions of pesos, reinvesting them in concrete improvements for the healthcare system. "We came to end that. And we are doing it", stated the minister.
No hubo quorum en la marcha
End of blockades and social rejection of marches
One of the factors that also influenced the failure of the turnout was the implementation of the anti-blockade protocol, which prevents chaos in public roads and traffic disruption. In this context, many citizens view with suspicion those who insist on protesting the elimination of privileges.
"They have every right in the world to march, but let's call it what it is: they march because their privileges have ended", sentenced Lugones, clearly marking the government's stance on these demonstrations.
Argentine society seems to have changed its view on the mobilizations driven by sectors that, for years, benefited from structures that drained state resources. The failure of the turnout only reinforces the idea that the adjustment is here to stay and that the end of privileges is a clear mandate from the majority of Argentines.
