Hundreds of demonstrators angry about social spending cuts hurled stones at police, who responded with water cannon, pepper spray and rubber bullets.

“We arrested 11 people. We have eight police officers and two journalists injured,” Buenos Aires head of government Jorge Macri told reporters.

AFP reporters witnessed at least one civilian injured after falling face-first to the ground while being subdued by police.

“We were protesting against the… shortage of food at soup kitchens, and what we got was sticks and bullets,” 46-year-old Martin Velazquez, who works at a food bank, told AFP.

Government aid to soup kitchens was stopped in December, after self-declared anarcho-capitalist President Javier Milei took office.

His government has also slashed transport and energy subsidies. Wage earners have lost a fifth of their purchasing power amid annual inflation exceeding 270%.

Today, almost six out of 10 Argentines are living in poverty, according to figures from the Pontifical Catholic University’s Social Debt Observatory – a significant jump from 49% measured when Milei took office.

The International Monetary Fund, which requires the Milei government to balance the books after years of overspending, has itself urged measures to shield the poor against austerity measures.

One of the new government’s first steps was to tighten protest laws, prohibiting demonstrators from impeding traffic as they sought to do Wednesday until police stepped in.

Four months into Milei’s government, street demonstrations are a near-daily occurrence in the capital.

Protesters are also angry at a new wave of dismissals announced by the government last week that will see 15,000 public servants lose their jobs.

Popular support for Milei hovers between 43% and 57%, just slightly lower than it was when he was elected.