Drop the Charges Against Vanina Biasi!

The prosecution of Vanina Biasi represents a dangerous attempt to silence critics of Israel and restrict the democratic rights of political activists in Argentina. Vanina—a prominent leader of the Partido Obrero (PO) and elected parliamentary representative for the city of Buenos Aires—is facing criminal charges over tweets from 2023 denouncing Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.

Vanina is also a union leader representing staff at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) and a well-known activist in the women’s movement in Argentina. To its credit, the UBA Teachers Union has taken up her defense, noting that

Just recently, a Buenos Aires court ratified the acquittal of another Trotskyist leader, Alejandro Bodart, on similar charges. This is a significant victory which could help Vanina.

Vanina’s case is part of a broader international campaign to intimidate those who solidarize with the Palestinians. This includes the wave of repression against student encampments in the U.S., the banning of Palestine Action in Britain and the prosecution of pro-Palestinian activists on terrorism charges across Western Europe. For its part, the Milei government has declared unconditional support for Netanyahu while seeking to strengthen Argentina’s strategic alignment with Washington.

This is not the first time the Milei government has come for PO. Since his election in 2023, it has attempted to discredit, criminalize and persecute the PO-led “piquetero” organizations of unemployed workers while gutting funds for social services like soup kitchens and savagely repressing their demonstrations.

The international workers movement must come to the defense of Vanina, PO and all activists facing similar charges. This will strengthen workers’ defense against attacks on their own jobs and livelihoods by the Milei government in the service of the U.S. imperialist vultures.