The story does not end there
Endless hugs, shouts of jubilation, tears, and a tumult of joy met Federico and María Eva when they left the chamber. Everyone burst into song, and started to march to their building at Callao 360, with the flag of the cooperative at the front, to celebrate with their compañeros, the workers who had remained in the hotel. There, an improvised party was put together in the rooms, which soon included more and more people, as they found out about the law passing. Senators Irrazábal and Abal Medina also arrived. No one could contain their joy.
But there was a danger, which was predictable enough: a Presidential veto. Given Mauricio Macri’s background and the nature of his government, it was highly likely that this would happen. The president had a period of ten days, usually interpreted as business days, to sign or veto a law passed by Congress. The 26th of December, on vacation in Villa La Angostura, Macri, barely expanding on Pinedo’s arguments, signed Decree 1302/16, which vetoed the expropriation of the BAUEN hotel, numbered as 27344, completely.1 A simple signature, a stroke of the pen, to undo years of effort by the workers and underwrite a scam on the people, on the workers, and on the State.
- Decree 1302/2016, B.O.: December 27, 2016.↩