Demonstrators march in Buenos Aires against inflation and to seek action to solve the country’s economic crisis.
Thousands of frustrated Argentinians have gathered in downtown Buenos Aires in loud street protests, demanding government action to raise salaries and unemployment benefits following consumer price inflation and a weakening peso currency.
Beating drums and waving the flags of trade unions and various left-wing groups, most aligned with President Alberto Fernandez's ruling Peronists, protesters reached the Casa Rosada presidential palace and the Congress on Wednesday, after marching through the capital's main avenues and bringing traffic to a standstill.
Protesters while braving a chilly, windy day, called for wage hikes in line with inflation, and additional social welfare funding to alleviate the widespread economic pain.
"We can't continue with this level of inflation where everyday we keep losing parts of our salary," said Pablo Moyano, head of the CGT workers' union that mostly represents government employees.
Speaking to the crowd, Moyano, himself a Peronist, asked Fernandez to take control of prices.
Other union leaders echoed Moyano's sentiments.
"There's no work, salaries just don't stretch far enough, and there are constant price mark-ups," said Ramon Luque, head of a union representing cardboard and paper workers.
READ MORE: Argentinians bring capital to standstill in anti-inflation protests
Economic crisis
Argentina's economic crisis has seen 40 percent of the population drop below the poverty line as Fernandez struggles to find solutions to an annual inflation rate.
Prices at grocery stores and shops are regularly updated to reflect persistent inflation, which last month alone rose 7.4 percent, the highest monthly rise in two decades.
According to Argentina's national statistics agency, consumer prices have increased 71 percent over the past year.
Today, around four in 10 Argentines live below the poverty line.
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