Buenos Aires, November 17, 2025 – The national government filed a criminal complaint against Rodolfo Aguiar, the general secretary of the Association of State Workers (ATE), for his public statements calling to “provoke the crisis of this government” within the debate on labor reform.
The complaint was filed in federal court for the alleged crime of threatening to attack the constitutional order and democratic life. The complaint was presented to the federal judiciary by the Ministry of Security, through its National Directorate of Norms and Relations with the Judicial Powers and Public Ministries, headed by Fernando Oscar Soto, at the instruction of Minister Patricia Bullrich.
The Ministry of Security stated that while union protest is legitimate, it can never spill over into a threat to the institutional order or direct interference in the powers of the state.
In turn, Aguiar responded to the complaint, asserting that the true violation of the constitutional order comes from the Government. The complaint states that its dissemination on platforms such as Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and TikTok reinforces its public nature and, according to the Government, its severity.
The judicial document, which is being processed under articles 226 and 226 bis of the Criminal Code, is based on the fact that the conduct alleged constitutes a simple threat to attack the form of government and the constitutional order.
In line with this, the complaint opens a judicial path that could set precedents regarding the scope of union action in contexts of high political confrontation. The case will now continue in the hands of the federal court to which it was filed, and the Ministry requests that the corresponding criminal investigation be carried out, with the summons of Aguiar and other involved parties, if applicable, to determine if their conduct actually falls under the alleged criminal types.
From the complainant ministry, it was stated that “the one who attacks the Constitution and the Rule of Law every day is the Government” and questioned what it considered “a persecution of dissenting voices.”
The filing by the Ministry of Security states that the union leader, by representing state workers, has a broad communicative reach that places him in a position of special responsibility for his public statements.
The context of the complaint is marked by the tension between the Government and the unions over the labor reform bill being debated in the National Congress. According to the document, inducing a government crisis can generate a greater institutional risk than a mere protest mobilization.
Analysts agree that this case highlights a dilemma between the legitimate exercise of union and expression rights and the limits imposed by public powers when a threat to the institutional order is perceived.
In his television appearance, Aguiar stated verbatim: “I want to say it with total sincerity… My job, our job, is to provoke the crisis of this Government.”
This phrase, reproduced in the media and social networks with wide dissemination, was valued by the Ministry as an explicit incitement to disrupt the normal functioning of the institutions.
