The University of Buenos Aires (UBA) announced that they expect a "peaceful and massive" national university march to take place tomorrow.

Ricardo Gelpi emphasized that they expect a large turnout tomorrow (REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian). "I am confident that tomorrow will be a peaceful, massive march, and that people will support this. Not to support the UBA, but to support the country," said the rector of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), Ricardo Gelpi, ahead of the new National University March, which will take place tomorrow in several locations across the country, with the main event centered in Plaza de Mayo. In a conversation with Radio Mitre, Gelpi pointed out that the demonstration is a response to a "critical" situation due to the impact of budget cuts on the operation of national universities. In this regard, the rector explained that the mobilization arises as a response to the budgetary limitations imposed on the university system. He also emphasized that the cuts directly affect classes, the salaries of teaching and non-teaching staff, as well as the operation of university hospitals. "It is well known how they have limited us with the budgets," he said. For the head of the UBA, the problem goes beyond economics and puts at risk fundamental aspects of the country: "This aims to destroy the Argentine state in its foundational part, which is to affect education and science," he emphasized. Gelpi responded to Alejandro Álvarez throughout the interview, the university leader emphasized that the restriction of funds constitutes the most urgent problem, but warned that the deterioration of higher education compromises the possibility of true freedom. "Freedom is when you can reason, create, and think, and that is achieved through education," he said. He argued that the development of critical thinking depends on the strength of the educational and scientific system. "Affecting education and science is mortgaging the future," the rector warned. The impact of the budget crisis is already reflected in the loss of qualified human resources: "People are leaving universities and laboratories, there are numbers," Gelpi said. He added: "It is impossible to train a teacher, a researcher, a professor, a doctor overnight." In response to statements by the Undersecretary of University Policies, Alejandro Álvarez, who had accused the rectors of promoting a "political extortion," Gelpi denied that such an intention existed and defended the legitimacy of the demands. "What we are asking for for the students and for the hospitals is the same thing that was asked for last year," he clarified. In addition, he specified that the funds transferred by the government are not updated according to inflation, which implies a real loss of purchasing power. "We are thirty-five, forty percent below," he detailed. Regarding the National University March, he expressed his expectation of a massive participation, similar to that recorded in previous demonstrations. "I am confident that the march will be large, that it will be massive. All sectors have mobilized," he said. He also emphasized that the defense of public education does not respond to partisan or personal interests, but represents the protection of the country's future. "It's not that they support Gelpi. They will support the future of the country," he concluded. The march will also have several focal points throughout the country. Public universities called for the new National University March for tomorrow, starting at 5:00 PM. "It is in defense of the public university to demand that the University Financing Law and the Salary Adjustment Law be implemented immediately," they said in a brief statement. The call is promoted by the National Interuniversity Council (CIN), the National University Syndicates Front, and the Argentine University Federation (FUA), and plans simultaneous mobilizations in different cities, with the main event in Buenos Aires and a march to Plaza de Mayo. The main demand is that the Executive Branch comply with the University Financing Law, approved by the National Congress in October 2025 and subsequently ratified by the Justice system. One of the central points is the application of University Financing Law No. 27,795, whose validity was ratified at the end of March by Chamber III of the Federal Administrative Litigation Court.