By Marcela Valente
BUENOS AIRES, Sep 27 1996 (IPS)

The second day of the general strike in Argentina Friday, dawned showing Menem deep in a leadership crisis with three years still left to serve of his term in office.

This is the fourth, and strongest, demonstration of popular opposition to his government in the last three months.

The 36 hour strike called by the General Labour Confederation, with the support of the main opposition parties and small and medium producers and traders, started Thursday with a street event – the largest organised by the unions in the last 20 years.

On Friday, the strike affected nearly all the public transport, schools and hospitals nationwide and the public adminstration, though the commerces were less keen. However, many people went to work and did not attend the event even though they supported the move.

Traders, taxi drivers, industrial workers and even employees of banks and the State administration, admitted to journalists that they agreed with the strike but could not join it for fear of losing their jobs, or because they cannot afford to lose part of their income.

The strike was called to protest against the adjustment policy, the high employment – 17.1 percent-, the liberalisation of trade and regressive tax laws, but gained strength in recent days due to the government threat of labour reform which will endanger employment and salaries, according to the unions.

President Menem qualified the strike as a “total failure,” saying the discontent “is perhaps from some leaders and not from the people” assuring that “absolutely nothing” would happen following the strike as the government will not change the direction of the economy nor its labour reform plans.

However, only a few hours later, he ordered his collaborators to try and reopen dialogue with the unions next week, in order to achieve some consensus on the project to flexibilise the work contract regulations.

Most of the political analysts saw the strike as “a point of no return” in relations between the government and the workers, “a break,” “a divorce” or “the end of the romance” the government had fired between entrepreneurs and workers since 1989.

For some observers, after many years of accompanying the stablity policy, the population returned to the strategy of protest to show their unhappiness with the unemployment, increased taxes and corruption, the latter an issue which was touched on within the strike call.

“No one is questioning the legitimacy of the government and it still has three years left, but after Thurday’s event the romance came to an end, something broke, because most of the people at the demonstration were Menem voters and they shouted ‘traitor’ at him,” said political commentator Alfredo Leuco.

“I have serious suspicions that Menem’s leadership has come to an end, and that as yet there is no-one to take that place,” added Leuco.

According to a survey by the Ricardo Rouvier company, barely 14 percent of the population now back Menem – only 18 months after he was returned to power with 50 percent of the vote.

The political columnist on Buenos Aires daily ‘Pagina 12,’ Jose Pasquini, said Thursday’s demonstration is a “new” show of the popular discontent which began to be shown in the June 30 elections for the mayor of the capital, when more than 80 percent voted for the ruling party candidate.

On August 8, a 24-hour general strike was well supported, outdoing the organisers’ expectations. On September 12, there was an extremely successful protest blackout and saucepan beating session. And now a 36-hour strike.

“It is a process which belongs to nobody and has no programme but it categorically states that the adjustment policy is supported by a minority and that the ‘Argentine miracle’ which joined together the market economy and the majority vote in the same block has come to an end,” said Pasquini Friday.

Rosenda Fraga, political analyst and pollster, said the social forces are against the government today, but, she said, on the political scene the President still takes the initiative as the opposition lacks leadership.

As a result of the weakness of the opposition, Congress approved the fiscal package this week, with support from the majority of his party legislators, the Peronists and even those who supported the strike.

The political columnist on ‘La Nacion,’ Atilio Cadorin, also said the strike marked a “pivot point” in relations between the government and the unions – the General Labour Confederation was always the main backer of the Peronists.

However, Thursday’s demonstration, which ended in the Plaza de Mayo – the public space in front of the government headquarters – became an opposition event.

“We feel defrauded by this government,” said the unions’ secretary-general, Rodolfo Daer.

“There was a divorce here, and the government has to understand, to listen to the workers,” said business union leader Armando Cavalieri.

“We have been sat negotiating for seven years and now we can’t do it any more, we have to fight,” said the steelworkers’ union leader Lorenzo Miguel.

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