President of Colombia to Adopt Measures to Help Colombian Students Expelled From Argentina

Orinoco Tribune, December 30, 2023 —

The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, announced that he will adopt measures to help more than 20,000 Colombian students who were studying for free in Argentina and cannot continue their studies there after the new president of Argentina, Javier Milei, eliminated free higher education for foreigners.

Petro commented in a post on X that his country will soon receive the students who were receiving higher education in Argentina, who are now “literally expelled,” and criticized the measures of his ultra-right Argentinian counterpart.

“We will receive 20,000 Colombian students who were studying for free in Argentina,” Petro wrote. “They are literally expelled from that country, for them there was no so-called `freedom.’ We will adopt measures so that they can continue their studies in Colombia for free and without major obstacles.”

The president of Argentina, Javier Milei, presented to Congress an “omnibus bill” that includes the implementation of fees in public universities for non-resident foreign students.

According to the proposed reform, state-run higher education institutions and national universities, in the exercise of their autonomy, could establish fees for undergraduate education services for students who do not meet certain requirements. One of these requirements is to be a resident or a citizen of Argentina.

In this way, the new “libertarian” government of Argentina wants to de facto expel thousands of foreign students who do not have residency in the country. According to Milei, “foreigners will not study for free at the expense of Argentinians.”

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(Últimas Noticias) by Randolph Borges