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Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2001 15:51:37 PST
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Subject: [R-G] Strike shuts down Argentina - AP
Associated Press Friday, December 14, 2001
Strike shuts down Argentina
By Tony Smith
Buenos Aires -- Argentina's economy, already crippled by nearly four years
of recession, ground to a halt yesterday as the deeply unpopular government
of President Fernando de la Rua faced its eighth general strike in two
years.
As the strike closed down offices, factories and public transport across the
country, Mr. de la Rua met with his predecessor, Carlos Menem of the
opposition Peronist Party, to seek joint policies to save Argentina from
economic collapse.
But the talks at the Casa Rosada government house -- focusing on further
cuts in public spending and whether Argentina should abandon the peso and
adopt the U.S. dollar as its currency -- did little to appease angry workers
outside.
Driven to desperation by spiralling unemployment and plummeting living
standards, tens of thousands of union workers stayed off the job yesterday
amid scattered protests around the country and sporadic violence.
Defying heavy rain, about 70 protesters crowded the entrance to the home of
Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo on the upper-crust Avenida Libertador in
this capital. Chanting anti-government slogans, they waved a huge banner
painted with the face of Evita Peron.
The four-year economic slump has left Argentina so cash-strapped that it is
struggling to meet payments on its $132-billion (U.S.) debt. A run on banks
Nov. 30 forced the government to partly freeze Argentines' bank accounts,
which sparked the latest wave of protests. The International Monetary Fund
last week refused to release nearly $1.3-billion Argentina needs to keep its
accounts afloat, saying not enough was being done to control spending.
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