ARGENTINA: Gov’t Blames Violence on Radical Groups of Unemployed

By Marcela Valente Reprint | | Print |

Marcela Valente

BUENOS AIRES, Jun 27 2002 (IPS) - The Argentine government complained Thursday that radical segments of the movement of unemployed workers trying to “destabilise” the administration of Eduardo Duhalde were responsible for the violence that left two dead and dozens wounded in protests Wednesday.

The head of the government cabinet, Alfredo Atanasof, said “this is the most profound crisis in the history of a country that will not put up with any more violence.

“What is at stake here,” he added, “is not merely the fate of a government or a handful of officials.”

Wednesday’s violent incidents were sparked when police tried to keep protesters from blocking a bridge leading into Buenos Aires from a southern suburb.

Eight people remained hospitalised Thursday, one of them critically injured, but only one of the 160 people arrested Wednesday was still in custody.

The Congress of Argentine Workers (CTA), the central trade union that represents civil servants, teachers, professors, doctors and judicial system employees, held a general strike Thursday to repudiate Wednesday’s violence.

However, the CTA did not back a march Thursday by demonstrators who walked from Congress to the Plaza de Mayo – in front of the seat of government – to protest the police crackdown on roadblocks the day before.

The march was organised by the more radical jobless movements – the Neighbourhoods on Their Feet, Workers Pole, Anibal Verón Coordinator and Movement of Unemployed Workers – the same organisations that threw up roadblocks Wednesday on five bridges leading into the city of Buenos Aires.

Atanasof accused the groups of trying to “destabilise” the government by sowing “chaos and violence,” as was seen Wednesday on the Pueyrredón bridge, which links the suburb of Avellaneda and the capital to the south.

The official also stated that the government would launch an in- depth investigation, “to find out as soon as possible who is behind all of this.”

President Duhalde, beset by an economic crisis that is worsening day to day while his government attempts to secure increasingly elusive international financial aid, has faced near daily protests and growing social unrest since he was appointed president in January.

Since then, around 13,000 demonstrations, including roadblocks, strikes and “neighbourhood assemblies”, have been held in this country of 36 million, Latin America’s third-largest economy.

Secretary of Interior Security Juan José Alvarez said that “without a doubt” there are “increasingly radicalised sectors” in the movement of unemployed workers.

He pointed to groups that “vindicate the armed struggle” as a form of protest against hunger and unemployment, which, however, he described as “legitimate” grievances.

“For three weeks now they’ve been saying that they’re going to try to provoke a new Dec 19-20,” said Alvarez, alluding to the two days of protests, looting and “caceroleos” (pot-banging protests) that led to the resignation of President Fernando de la Rúa, who had taken office for four years in December 1999.

The unrest and harsh police crackdown during those 48 hours had left a death toll of 29.

In the fourth year of a fierce recession, the government froze millions of bank accounts in December, devalued the peso, and declared a default on the country’s 141 billion dollar foreign debt.

Wednesday’s blockades of access roads leading into the capital were staged to demand larger subsidies for unemployed heads of households, as well as food and medical supplies for hospitals and health clinics in low-income neighbourhoods.

In a communique issued shortly before the protest, the Interior Ministry warned of the possibility that “small groups of violent protesters” would carry out “acts of vandalism.” The ministry called for “reflection and serenity,” in order to prevent incidents that would only be lamented.

The Movement of Argentine Workers (MTA) and the Combative Classist Current, more moderate organisations of the jobless, did not participate in this week’s protests.

MTA leader Luis D’Elía argued that when traffic is cut off, especially at key access points leading into the capital, the movement only scares off the middle-class, who should accompany the demonstrations in the struggle to improve the living standards of all.

More than half of the population of what was once Latin America’s richest country has fallen below the poverty line, and unemployment has soared to 24 percent. Soup kitchens have cropped up all over the country.