The main leaders of Juntos por el Cambio (JxC), the largest opposition coalition in Argentina, said they will defend Jujuy Governor Gerardo Morales’ after the fierce repression against protesters on Tuesday in the province.

Following the police crackdown, there are at least 170 people injured, according to public health organ SAME. The government said that at least 68 were arrested for protesting the province’s recent constitutional reform.

The main provision of the reform the protesters were rallying against is the ban on roadblocks and occupation of public buildings as a form of protest, as it’s seen as a way of violating the right to protest. Other provisions include the elimination of midterm elections, so 4-year legislator terms will now coincide with the governor’s time in office. It also dictates that the party who wins the governor election gets half of Legislature seats plus one, meaning they’ll have a majority.

What JxC’s says regarding Jujuy

In line with Morales, JxC accused the national government of promoting violence. “We will defend Jujuy’s government. Everyone in JxC is against violence. We will not allow the [national] government to generate violence,” said Patricia Bullrich, one of Propuesta Republicana (PRO)’s top leaders and presidential candidate in the primaries.

Buenos Aires mayor and PRO presidential candidate Horacio Rodríguez Larreta also accused kirchnerists, the Peronism faction aligned to the vice-president, of being responsible for the protests turning violent: “This is kirchnerism, stopping change because this Constitution makes people’s lives better. They also want to divert attention from what’s happening in Chaco, as well as economical and security issues. Kirchnerism is not going to stop us in any way,” he said.

Larreta and Bullrich voiced their opinion in a JxC meeting, where they discussed the Jujuy situation with liberal economist José Luis Espert, former JxC vice-president candidate Miguel Ángel Pichetto, Buenos Aires province governor candidate Diego Santilli, and former Buenos Aires province governor María Eugenia Vidal, among others.

Bullrich accused the national government of “seeding violence, chaos and disorder upon the decision of Jujuy’s government and people”. “We’ll defend Jujuy’s government, we’ll defend the legitimate authorities chosen a few days ago in free elections,” the opposition leader said. “In no way can the national government generate this situation of violence and chaos it’s been announcing for quite some time, a warning for what’s coming starting December 10,” she said, referring to the day presidents take office in Argentina and the possibility of Unidos por la Patria, the ruling coalition, winning the general elections.

“The gangs organized by the national government that are ravaging Jujuy province are a clear demonstration that kirchnerism, upon the end of its era, is using violence once again to mock the will of the people and the legitimate powers,” said the Radical Party (UCR) in a press release.

The government and the opposition had an intense back and forth on Twitter on Tuesday, both sides accusing each other of provoking the protests. “I hold President Alberto Fernández and Vice-President Cristina Fernández responsible for the extreme violence Jujuy is currently experiencing,” tweeted Morales.

In response, both Fernández and Kirchner demanded Morales take responsibility for the police crack down. CFK later shared a press release from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) that said they were following the actions in Jujuy with “concern”, and called on the government to respect the right of protest and international standards on the use of force.

“Do you see why you shouldn’t lie, Morales? This isn’t [political organization] La Cámpora, kirchnerism, the president or the vice-president. This is the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (…) saying ‘Argentina should respect international standards regarding use of force in the Jujuy protests’”, Kirchner tweeted.

At the JxC Tuesday’s meeting, Bullrich said the IACHR is giving an opinion on a topic they don’t know much about because they haven’t been to the place where the conflict is taking place. “We’ve seen biased and prejudiced IACHR statements before. We don’t think that what they say has any importance right now.”

“The IACHR always acts against human rights in Argentina. The human rights being violated are those of the Jujuy people, who voted for a Constitution, accepted it and are acting according to it”, she later said on TV news-station C5N.

“We are surprised that with a crime linked to power, like wthe one we’re seeing in Chaco, the IACHR isn’t saying anything (…) I think they are biased,” she added. Larreta considered the national organization’s press release “irresponsible” because “they are not informed” about what is going on in Jujuy.

The toll of  the protests

At least 170 people were injured and 68 were arrested by Tuesday at midnight after the violent police repression against demonstrators protesting in the surroundings of the local legislature building while the partial constitutional reform was being adopted on Tuesday. One of the protesters suffered severe head trauma after being hit with a tear gas canister and underwent surgery.

While protesters threw rocks, Jujuy police infantrymen hit them with rubber bullets and tear gas, and also threw rocks with slingshots. The tense situation went on for around four hours.

—with information from Télam.