Oil strikes plunge Peru into turmoil

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Grassroots Information Coordination Center (GICC) : One Thread

Oil strikes plunge Peru into turmoil

29.09.2000 -

LIMA - Peruvian truckers, joined by urban transport workers, crippled port shipments and threw Lima into chaos as they completed the first week of a strike in protest at sky-high oil prices.

Bus drivers around the country walked off the job on Wednesday, joining truckers who had already blocked major highways, ports and refineries, choking off fuel and food supplies for a week.

Lima's bus drivers also stopped work on Monday.

Workers started the blockades when international oil prices hit 10-year highs last week.

They are demanding officials eliminate a fuel tax of up to 42 per cent, and reduce highway tolls. They said the strike will continue despite a drop this week in oil prices.

The Government says it cannot lower taxes, which are needed for its tough austerity drive.

And the Transport Ministry said it would not negotiate with workers until they called off the strike.

Lima's petrol stations, many of which closed at the weekend as they ran out of fuel, reopened on Wednesday after the Government managed to break through a line of trucks blocking the country's main refinery.

But ports remained paralysed. Cargo movement at Callao, which is responsible for 70 per cent of Peru's imports and exports, has dropped dramatically since the strike began.

Truckloads of zinc and fish meal for export, among other products, have fallen by more than 95 per cent, the National Ports Company said.

The strike has put mounting pressure on President Alberto Fujimori, who is embroiled in the biggest political crisis of his 10 years in office.

After a video aired on television showed Fujimori's right-hand man allegedly bribing an opposition lawmaker, the President said he would call new elections in which he will not run.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=153211&thesection=news&thesubsection=world

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), September 28, 2000


Moderation questions? read the FAQ