Argentines protest President Milei’s diatribe against 'wokeism' at Davos

BUENOS AIRES (AP) — Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires and in cities across the country to protest President Javier Milei’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, during which he slammed ‘wokeism,’ feminism and other progressive ideals.

Protesters were clad in rainbow-colored flags and bore banners that read “rights are not negotiable.” Dubbed the “Federal March of Anti-Fascist and Anti-Racist Pride,” the LGBTQ+ community called the protest after the speech on Jan. 23 to combat “the economic violence, political persecution and sexual repression of Javier Milei’s government.”

Rights’ groups, unions and political parties also joined the protest.

In Switzerland, Milei sharply criticized “sick wokeism,” social welfare, feminism, identity politics and the fight against climate change, adding that “in its most extreme versions gender ideology constitutes plain and simple child abuse.”

Protester Germán Paladino, an industrial engineer, said Milei’s government was not taking care of public issues such as healthcare and education and was instead lashing out at people’s private life.

“I don’t know if this march can change anything, but if it could put a break on Javier Milei’s remarks which were rather aggressive,” Paladino said.

“I am here to defend our rights, those which we have won and those that are currently under attack,” said Milagros, a 33-year-old visual artist.

In recent decades, Argentina has enshrined progressive laws consecrating sexual diversity and equal marriage rights, among others.