La Plata City Hall attacked and set ablaze during protest

Security footage released by the Municipality of La Plata captures the moments when protesters from the Movement of Excluded Workers (MTE) forcibly entered the City Hall and set parts of it ablaze during demonstrations on June 26. The unrest erupted following modifications to the urban cleaning service tender system, resulting in a criminal complaint, 22 arrests, and seven injuries.

The recordings from the municipality's Operations and Monitoring Center chronologically detail the events instigated by militants affiliated with leader Juan Grabois. The videos show individuals forcing various entrances to the City Hall, engaging with local security and Buenos Aires provincial police. A cargo truck carrying protest materials arrived, and demonstrators were seen breaking side windows, stained glass in the Golden Hall, and openings in the Deliberative Council.

Inside the building, protesters threw objects at windows and entered with drums and tires, which they then set on fire at the main entrance, creating thick plumes of smoke. The conflict originated from a change in the public tender system for sweeping, ditch cleaning, recycling, and grass cutting services. The local administration, led by Mayor Julio Alak, initiated public tenders on June 10 and 11 after the Audit Court warned the municipality against continuing direct contracts.

Municipal authorities stated that various cooperatives had acquired the tender documents, except for the MTE, which is linked to Grabois. The local government claims the MTE sought to maintain a direct contract worth 90 million pesos monthly (over a billion annually), a practice initiated in 2011, bypassing the new public tender procedures for city maintenance tasks. Conversely, the MTE had announced the protests beforehand, arguing the municipal decision would affect the livelihood of 400 recyclers. The organization rejected the official account, accusing the local administration of launching a politically motivated and false media campaign to discredit their refusal to compete in the bidding process.

“

The municipality mounted a political and media persecution campaign full of falsehoods. They try to install that we refuse to compete in the tender.