One sign in Helsinki read: "Build saunas, not war!"
Activists used Monday's summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to hold two days of high-profile protests in the Finnish capital over a variety of grievances.
Abortion-rights activists dressed up Monday in bulging bellies and Trump masks. Anti-fascist protesters carried signs with expletive-laden insults. Free traders, anti-war Ukrainians, environmentalists and rainbow flag-waving gay rights supporters all vied for attention from the world's media.
People take to Helsinki street, Sunday, July 15, 2018. Some 1,500 people are protesting in Helsinki to promote human and sexual rights, democracy and environmental issues ahead of Monday's summit in the Finnish capital between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. (Roni Rekomaa/Lehtikuva via AP)
In a city proud to defend the right to protest, demonstrators were scattered about. Some stayed at barriers erected by police to try to register their complaints as the world leaders sped by in armor-plated vehicles for their summit at Finland's presidential palace.
Others marched by Helsinki landmarks, far away from the leaders' gathering but in clear view of curious residents and tourists.
At the city's Senate Square, about 20 male "pregnant Trumps" and 20 women wearing pink gags railed against a Trump order that bans providing federal money to international family-planning groups that perform abortions or provide information about them.
People wear president Trump's masks as they take to Helsinki street, Sunday, July 15, 2018. Some 1,500 people are protesting in Helsinki to promote human and sexual rights, democracy and environmental issues ahead of Monday's summit in the Finnish capital between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. (Onni Ojala/Lehtikuva via AP)
At the same location, a Finnish pro-Israel group was voicing support for Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
Another march that drew hundreds of people was a mishmash of messages — some supporting German Chancellor Angela Merkel and some shouting "Fascists go home!" Some marchers questioned the legitimacy of Trump's election victory since he lost the popular vote. Another sign read: "A woman's place is in the Resistance."
Protesters hold a sign "Stop Putin In Ukraine, Save Europe" during a demonstration in Helsinki, Finland Monday, July 16, 2018. U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin are scheduled to meet in the Finnish capital. (Onni Ojala/Lehtikuva via AP)
"I don't think the two people meeting today are going to care whether we are here or not, frankly," said Helsinki protesters Tina Aspiala, 43. "It's more of a global solidarity against a lot of things that are messed up, and I think that that's why it's worth coming out."
Some marchers had professionally designed banners while others scrawled slogans like "Not Welcome" onto homemade posters or warned of a looming apocalypse.
People take to Helsinki street, Sunday, July 15, 2018. Some 1,500 people are protesting in Helsinki to promote human and sexual rights, democracy and environmental issues ahead of Monday's summit in the Finnish capital between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. (Roni Rekomaa/Lehtikuva via AP)
On Sunday, 2,000 people marched through the city to promote human and sexual rights, democracy and environmental issues. Organizers for "Helsinki Calling" said the protest wasn't aimed directly against the U.S. or Russian presidents but was designed to focus on key global issues.
"We celebrate the Helsinki spirit here," said Timo Heikkinen, a 50-year-old from Helsinki. "And we welcome everybody who respects human rights and democracy and doesn't share fake news."
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina’s biggest trade unions mounted one of their fiercest challenges to the libertarian government of President Javier Milei, staging a mass general strike on Thursday that led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights and halted key bus, rail and subway lines.
Main avenues and streets, as well as major transportation terminals were left eerily empty. Most teachers couldn’t make it to school and parents kept their children at home. Trash collectors walked off the job — as did health workers, except for those in emergency rooms.
The 24-hour strike against Milei’s painful austerity measures and contentious deregulation push threatened to bring the nation of 46 million to a standstill as banks, businesses and state agencies also closed in protest.
Thursday’s action marked the second nationwide union strike since Milei came to power last December, slashing spending, laying off government workers, and freezing all public works projects in a bid to rescue Argentina from its worst financial crisis in two decades.
He has also devalued the local currency, stabilizing the peso but also causing prices to soar. Argentina’s annual inflation rate now nears 300% — considered the highest in the world, outpacing even crisis-stricken Lebanon.
The government said transport service disruptions would prevent some 6.6 million people from making it to work. During the morning rush-hour on Thursday, few cars could be seen on streets typically snarled with traffic. Garbage was already piling up on deserted sidewalks.
Milei posted a photo on Instagram holding up a soccer jersey emblazoned with the words “I DON’T STOP.”
The country’s largest union, known by its acronym CGT, said it was staging the strike alongside other labor syndicates “in defense of democracy, labor rights and a living wage.”
Argentina’s powerful unions — backed by Argentina’s left-leaning Peronist parties that have dominated national politics for decades — have led the pushback to Milei’s policies on the streets and in the courts in recent months.
“We are facing a government that promotes the elimination of labor and social rights,” the unions said, seeking to portray Thursday’s strike as an eruption of public outrage over Milei’s free-market policies that have disproportionately affected poor and middle classes.
The government downplayed the disruption as a cynical ploy by its left-wing political opponents.
“They want to keep Argentina on a path of servitude,” said presidential spokesperson Manual Adorni of the union leaders, accusing them of “extorting Argentines to try to return to power.”
Union leaders said they had no choice but to escalate their actions after Argentina’s lower house approved Milei’s state overhaul bill and tax packages last week.
Even as lawmakers scrapped the bill's most controversial articles, unions remain vehemently opposed to parts of the package that relax labor market regulations and grant Milei power to restructure and privatize public agencies. The bill is now being debated in the opposition-dominated Senate.
Rubén Sobrero, general-secretary of the Railway Union, said the unions were prepared to extend the strike if negotiations did not yield results. “If there is no response within these 24 hours, we'll do another 36,” he said.
For months, most recently Monday and Tuesday this week, raucous demonstrations by leftist parties gripped Buenos Aires, the country’s capital — in sharp contrast to the silence prevailing on the streets Thursday.
Argentina’s main international airport warned travelers to check in with their airlines as flight boards in terminals displayed a stream of yellow cancellation notices. The country’s flagship carrier, Aerolíneas Argentinas, announced it had canceled nearly 200 domestic and regional flights and rescheduled over a dozen international flights, affecting 24,000 passengers and costing the airline $2 million.
Only one bus company said it would continue regular service on Thursday. Shortly after the strike began at midnight, police said protesters attacked two of the company’s buses in Buenos Aires, breaking windows but causing no casualties.
“We won’t let them (the unions) break everything we are achieving,” conservative Security Minister Patricia Bullrich posted on social media with a photo of the shattered bus windows.
Experts say that both sides are politically motivated.
In using the strike to assail his rivals, Milei is compensating for worsening economic pressures, said Sebastián Mazzuca, a political science expert at Johns Hopkins University. In bringing the economy to a halt, unions that had their candidate defeated in the last presidential election are flexing their muscles.
“This conflict is sold to the public as a social conflict, but it's really a political conflict,” Mazzuca said. “The outgoing government doesn't want to die. And the new government wants to stay in power.”
Private security personnel stand at the Retiro train station that is empty due to a general strike against the reforms of President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Trains stand idle at the Retiro train station due to a general strike against the reforms of President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
A few public buses drive through empty streets near the Retiro train station during a general strike against the reforms of President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
A person sleeps outside the Retiro train station that is empty due to a general strike against the reforms of President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
An electronic sign with the Spanish message "Service interrupted by forced measures by the CGT," referring to the workers union strike against the reforms of President Javier Milei, at the Retiro train station that is empty due to the strike in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Ad ad featuring Argentine soccer team coach Lionel Scaloni covers a wall at the Retiro train station that is empty due to a general strike against the reforms of President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
A driver stands inside a bus at the Retiro long-distance bus terminal that is empty due to a general strike against the reforms of President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
A traveler exits the Retiro long-distance bus terminal that is mostly empty due to a general strike against the reforms of President Javier Milei, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Trains stand idle at the Retiro train station due to a general strike against the reforms of President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Platforms are empty of commuters at the Retiro train station due to a general strike against the reforms of President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
The Retiro train station hall is empty of commuters due to a general strike against the reforms of President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Garbage that city workers have not picked up accumulates outside Constitution Station next to stores that are closed due to a general strike against the reforms of President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
The entrance of Constitution Station is closed during a general strike against the reforms of President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
The platforms at Constitution Station are empty of commuters due to a general strike against the reforms of President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
A man sleeps at a subway station entrance that is closed due to a general strike against the reforms of President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Workers stand inside Jorge Newbery International Airport that is empty due to a general strike against the reforms of President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Tables are empty at a cafe that is open for business at Jorge Newbery International Airport during a general strike against the reforms of President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Planes sit idle at Jorge Newbery International Airport during a general strike against the reforms of President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
The Aerolíneas Argentinas counter is closed at Jorge Newbery International Airport during a general strike against the reforms of President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
The bus stops outside Constitution Station are empty of commuters due to a general strike against President Javier Milei's reforms in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
The outside of Constitution Station is empty of traffic due to a general strike against the reforms of President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
