Footage shows demonstrators carrying flags and placards, with some wearing Argentina’s national football team shirt as a symbol of unity. Protesters called for continued scientific research and policies to prevent highly qualified professionals from leaving the country.

"There is a brain drain, as there has been at other times. No scientific knowledge is being generated by new students, there are no grants, and research lines that generate technology are being interrupted," said Paula Fernandez, a worker at the National Institute of Agricultural Technology.

The protest was organised by the Federal Board for Argentine Science and Technology under the slogan "I put on the shirt."

Demonstrators demanded the continuation of grants from the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), the restoration of pay, funding for projects and the reinstatement of workers.

"Our agencies and our universities have been defunded by 50 per cent in a country that does not have scientists to spare. (...) We have lost more than 6,400 jobs," said Roberto Salvarezza, scientist and former Minister of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation of Argentina.

Some demonstrators criticised the funding policies pursued by Milei’s government and warned about the possible impact on Argentina’s scientific and technological development.

"They do not back science. I think it is a mistake not to back science. Science is sovereignty; science is thinking about the future of a country," the demonstrator emphasised.

The Argentine government says the cuts are part of its broader economic policy to reduce the deficit and public spending while maintaining fiscal balance.

Milei’s administration says the State must focus its resources and direct scientific funding towards areas considered strategic and capable of generating innovation, productivity and economic development.

The official 2026 budget includes approximately 1.696 trillion pesos for Science and Technology, equivalent to 1.5 per cent of budgetary spending, according to the government’s official presentation.

The government does not say it has eliminated scientific funding but has reduced and reorganised the role it believes the State should play in the sector.