Police have joined anti-austerity protesters in the province of Misiones, Argentina. Officers are now on strike, and Milei’s “libertarian” government has had to send federal agents from the capital to try to keep order.

Misiones is a strategic province bordering both Brazil and Paraguay. The protests began as a teachers’ strike against low pay and inflation. The police then refused orders to repress the population and instead joined them, citing their own low pay as the reason.

A police mutiny is illegal, and if it spreads to other regions, it would be a threat to Milei’s power. Numerous Latin American countries have seen a coup result from police mutinies, such as Bolivia in 2019 and Ecuador in 2010.