Argentine govt faces setback

Vetoes overturned ahead of elections

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Argentina's President Javier Milei in Ezeiza, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, on Thursday.

(REUTERS)

Struggling President Javier Milei suffered a new setback Thursday as Congress overturned his vetoes of laws increasing funding for public universities and paediatric care.

Senators invalidated both vetoes, which had already been rejected by the lower Chamber of Deputies, bringing to three the number of laws upheld by Congress despite vehement opposition from the budget-slashing Milei.

The vote comes as Mr Milei struggles to end a run on the national currency, the peso, in the run-up to crucial Oct 26 midterm elections.

Outside Congress, about 100 people celebrated the results.

Psychology student Tomas Bossi said he was proud of the outcome. “We've been fighting and resisting the government's atrocious underfunding of national universities for over a year,” he told AFP.