Argentina Braces for Mass Protest

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Grassroots Information Coordination Center (GICC) : One Thread

Argentina Braces for Mass Protest

By BILL CORMIER Associated Press Writer

August 29, 2001, 2:48 PM EDT

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- Authorities sealed off government offices and the Buenos Aires stock exchange Wednesday ahead off a mass rally expected to draw thousands of people angered by a new round of austerity measures.

Busloads of workers were coming to the capital for a march organized by the country's main labor organization. It was expected to be the biggest show of anger in the Argentine capital in months.

The government, struggling to check a severe economic crisis, is cutting workers' salaries and retirement benefits in a bid to trim expenditure. Seeking to get his message out before the march, President Fernando De la Rua acknowledged the social impact of the belt-tightening measures.

"I understand the concerns of the people, the pain everyone is feeling because of this prolonged recession," De la Rua said. But he called for popular support, adding he had no choice but to press ahead with controversial budget cuts.

"The measures we take now are borne out of necessity," he added.

The president has called on Argentina's 23 provinces to join him in a "Zero Deficit" plan to end a 3-year recession marked by 16 percent unemployment.

Last week, the International Monetary Fund awarded Argentina an emergency $8 billion package.

But to meet IMF guidelines, the government must implement a tough deficit-cutting plan that has rankled organized labor, triggering near daily street protests.

In an unusual display of solidarity, both the main General Workers Confederation and a hardline breakaway faction united to stage the protest.

Hugo Moyano, leader of the dissident union group, complained spending cuts were targeting the wrong sectors.

"A retiree who makes $500 a month or a state worker shouldn't have to shoulder the burden of the deficit. That has to be paid by those who make a lot more money than the poor workers," Moyano said.

De la Rua said he will restructure Argentina's inefficient state medicaid program and overhaul what critics consider a bloated social security agency.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-argentina-protests0829aug29.story?coll=sns%2Dap%2Dnationworld%2Dheadlines

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), August 30, 2001

Answers

You always have to wonder about the human condition....mentally....when you read something like this. What in blazes is going to be gained by all these protests....in a country that is going down, and can hardly stay afloat?

-- R2D2 (r2d2@earthend.net), August 30, 2001.

Argentina can't afford to pay back 130 billion. How are they now going to pay back 138 billion?

-- Peter Overland (seti@stargate.com), August 31, 2001.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ