Argentina’s police step up their response to growing anti-government protests

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — A confrontation between Argentine authorities and anti-government protesters outraged over President Javier Milei’s deep cuts to state spending has escalated, as protesters blocking the capital’s key thoroughfare were forcibly dispersed and eight of the movement’s participants arrested. In a rare move riot Wednesday police officers deployed powerful water cannons, drenching demonstrators. Argentines demanding more money for soup kitchens hurled sticks and stones, set garbage cans alight and paralyzed the main street of Buenos Aires in defiance of new legal changes banning roadblocks. Strikes and protests have gripped the country in recent weeks as Argentines, struggling to cope with Milei’s painful austerity measures.