Fw: ARGENTINEANS PROTEST AHEAD OF GENERAL STRIKE

["Nello Margiotta" <animarg@tin.it>]

Nello
http://www.nandotimes.com/world/story/192935p-1871500c.html


ARGENTINEANS PROTEST AHEAD OF GENERAL STRIKE

Copyright © 2001 AP Online
By TONY SMITH, Associated Press


BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (December 12, 2001 3:35 p.m. EST) - With
recession-plagued Argentina hours away from a general strike, angry
shopkeepers and homeowners marched through Buenos Aires Wednesday,
protesting the government's economic reforms with firecrackers, drumbeats
and the rattle of pots and pans.

Several protests sprang up around the city in a sign of growing discontent
over how President Fernando de la Rua and Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo
are handling the crisis that has brought South America's second-largest
economy to its knees.

In its fourth straight year of recession and struggling to make payments on
$132 billion of debt, Argentina is on the brink of economic meltdown.
Unemployment is rising, confidence has slumped and the government has
partially frozen bank accounts to prop up the banking system.

More marches were expected through the day Wednesday, ahead of a 24-hour
national stoppage called for Thursday by public sector workers.

Unions are demanding "free access for workers to their salaries." Under the
government bank freeze, Argentines may only withdraw up to $1,000 cash a
month - all other payments must be made by check, transfer or debit or
credit cards.

The first protests Wednesday started on the Diagonal Norte, a main avenue.

A small but vocal group representing shopkeepers and small businesses
marched to the Casa Rosada government house, banging drums, setting off
firecrackers, waving Argentine flags and singing the national anthem.

"This economic model is finished," said Vicente Lourenzo, vice president of
a national association of small businesses, joining other snappily dressed
protesters on the back of an old truck leading a caravan of vans, cars and
taxis.

"We need to rebuild the economy and adopt a floating currency to be
competitive," he said.

Argentina's peso currency has been fixed since 1991 at one-to-one parity
with the dollar. That brought price stability but some say it has since
helped make Argentina's economy unable to compete with other countries.

As the caravan snaked down the avenue, it crossed with another drum-beating
protest, about 100 homeowners protesting spiraling loan payments to a local
bank.

Despite the fiesta-like drumbeats, the mood was grim.

"What is happening here is dangerous, not just for Argentina, but for all
Latin America," said Graciela Hahn, 45, a former pastry shop owner from
Buenos Aires province.

She said her mortgage payments to Banco Hipotecario, a home loans bank, had
increased in recent years from $300 to $980.

"When I was working, I could afford to pay, but now, I had to close the
store," she said. "I have no job, no shop, how can I pay? We still have to
eat."

Arriving at the bank's headquarters in the heart of Buenos Aires' financial
district, the protesters found the metal doors locked shut.

So they pasted posters saying "we've been cheated" on the walls and
entertained passing crowds with drum music.

The respected daily La Nacion reported Wednesday that the government was
considering declaring Thursday's strike - called by all three of Argentina's
main unions - illegal.

The paper quoted government spokesman Juan Pablo Baylac as saying the strike
was "part of a political campaign to undermine the credibility of the
democratic system and respect for the institutions."

But Julio Piumato, a leader of the General Confederation of Labor, or CGT,
shot back.

"It's stupid to declare the strike illegal," he told La Nacion. "What is
illegal are the unconstitutional decrees that freeze the bank accounts and
lower wages."

"Of course they're right to strike," said Jose Diaz, 24, a lottery ticket
seller on the Diagonal. "There's no jobs, no money, of course people are
protesting."

"Look at these," he said, holding up the six tickets he had sold Wednesday
morning. "Even if you win, they won't pay you in cash, just in government
bonds."





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