Posted on Wednesday, July 10 @ 03:49:57 PDT
http://genoaresistence.org/webnuke/html/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=918
Tue Jul 9, 5:22 PM ET BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Thousands of unemployed Argentines, university students, and labor activists marched on the presidential palace Tuesday to protest the government's failure to end the country's economic crisis. The demonstration - the second large-scale protest in as many days - coincided with celebrations of Argentina's Independence Day. Some 8,000 protesters shouted anti-government slogans as they marched peacefully in downtown Buenos Aires. "Throw them all out!" protesters chanted, crowding the Plaza de Mayo that fronts the offices of President Eduardo Duhalde. Protests against Duhalde's handling of Argentina's worst financial crisis in history have grown in recent days as he works to lure emergency aid back from the International Monetary Fund ( news - web sites). The IMF shut off billions of dollars in credits to Argentina last December as the country plunged into a crisis that saw the presidency change hands five times in two weeks. The IMF has since refused to resume aid, saying Argentina must first enact sweeping economic reforms and devise a sustainable financial and monetary program. Presiding over Independence Day ceremonies in northern Argentina, Duhalde appealed to the international finance community to restore bailout funds, saying his country "needs and deserves" financial assistance. "Argentina is in danger," he said. "Years of mismanagement and mistaken political policies have carried us to a critical situation that we can only put behind us by working together." Last week, Duhalde moved up presidential elections by six months to March, hoping it would boost international confidence in his efforts to turn around the economy. Duhalde assumed the presidency after being appointed by Congress in January, two weeks after deadly street riots and food riots forced Fernando de la Rua from office. Argentina faces a dlrs 141 billion debt default and the government has struggled to contain a sharp devaluation of the currency, the peso, which has lost 70 percent of its value against the U.S. dollar. One in five workers are jobless in Argentina, and more than half of the country's population is impoverished. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020709/ap_wo_en_ge/argen tina_protests_2 ******************************* Alternative Press Review - www.altpr.org Your Guide Beyond the Mainstream PO Box 4710 - Arlington, VA 22204 Infoshop.org - www.infoshop.org News Kiosk - www.infoshop.org/inews