SAR’s Academic Freedom Monitoring Project investigates and reports attacks on higher education with the aim of raising awareness, generating advocacy, and increasing protection for scholars, students, and academic communities. Starting July 1, 2026, SAR no longer publishes reports for the incidents that it records. SAR continues to monitor and record incidents that will be used in the annual Free to Think report. This page provides a record of incidents reported up to that date. Learn more about the Academic Freedom Monitoring Project.

Date of Incident: October 24, 2024

Attack Types: Killings, Violence, Disappearances

Institution(s):National University of La Plata

Region & Country:Americas | Argentina

New or Ongoing:New Incident

On October 4, 2024, National University of La Plata (UNLP) students clashed with one another during an on-campus event aimed at promoting La Libertad Avanza–a right-wing libertarian political group founded by President Javier Milei–at the university.

The event, titled “Provincial Meeting of University Students of La Libertad Advances,” was planned as a discussion between Agustín Romo, the provincial deputy; Santiago Santurio, the national deputy of La Libertad Avanza; and Alejandro Álvarez, the Argentine undersecretary of university policies.

In response to the event, members of the Federation of University Students of La Plata (FULP) called on students and university staff to protest outside. Organizers decided to cancel the event after a large crowd of students, teachers, and UNLP members gathered outside the building in protest. The situation escalated when protesters began throwing items and pushing one another. Videos show a large number of protesters shouting outside of the building and pushing each other.

Shortly thereafter, the event was moved to the Chamber of Deputies, a short distance from the university.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about violent attacks in the course of a protest. While students and faculty have the right to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, including the right to protest content and events with which they disagree, they must exercise those rights responsibly and with respect for the free expression rights and academic freedom of other members of the higher education community and society at large. In addition to the harm to the immediate victims, such actions undermine academic freedom and democratic society generally.

Sources:
*SAR identified this incident in data made publicly available by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
https://www.0221.com.ar/universidad/video-escrache-golpes-e-insultos-estudiantes-la-unlp-y-dirigentes-y-militantes-libertarios-n99051
https://www.0221.com.ar/universidad/duro-comunicado-la-unlp-despues-del-escrache-el-acto-la-libertad-avanza-n99065
https://www.infoblancosobrenegro.com/nota/104677/la-presidencia-de-la-unlp-repudio-nbsp-enfaticamente-los-hechos-de-violencia-registrados-frente-al-edificio-sergio-karakachoff-de-la-plata/
https://unlp.edu.ar/institucional/comunicado-oficial-88521/
https://www.filo.news/noticia/2024/10/04/funcionarios-de-la-libertad-avanza-escrachados-por-estudiantes-de-la-unlp