Fw: Latin American anti-neoliberal protests



   Latin America rocked by protests against economic reform

                            Public protests have broken out in three Latin
 American nations as part of a rising tide against free market reforms which
 could alter the hemisphere's political landscape.

                            There is growing pressure on governments as
economic
 conditions worsen.

                            The street protests in Argentina, Ecuador and
Mexico
 have seen thousands of workers and farmers warn their governments they will
be
 defeated unless they abandon free market reforms.

                            Debt-ridden Argentina and Ecuador are struggling
to
 maintain economic stability, but the Mexican backlash in a relatively
buoyant
 economy appears to have shocked the eight-month-old Government of president
 Vicente Fox.

                            Thousands of angry farmers have barricaded
 government buildings in the capital, claiming Mr Fox has become
Washington's
 free market champion in Latin America.

                            They have demanded the same sort of subsidies
their
US counterparts receive, but President Fox says his Government cannot afford
 them and farmers will have accept change or perish.