Jobless Argentines block roads

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Jobless Argentines block roads -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jobless Argentines block roads, march on Congress to oppose economic measures

By LAURENCE NORMAN The Associated Press 2/20/02 7:07 PM

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -- Thousands of jobless Argentines threw up road blockades and hundreds more marched on Congress Wednesday, denouncing the government's handling of a deep economic crisis.

Unemployed workers blocked roads across the country as more than 100 angry Argentine savers banged pots and pans in front of Buenos Aires banks to protest a banking freeze that has shut off access to their savings.

The jobless burned tires and cut off roads in the provinces of Salta, Tucuman, Neuquen, and Chaco. Meanwhile, in the northern province of Jujuy, state workers marched on the provincial government house, shouting demands for food and back pay.

After tumbling into economic chaos last December, Argentina has been engulfed by daily protests. Many have been led by middle-class Argentines upset over the banking clampdown the government says is necessary to prevent a collapse of the financial system.

Popular anger still runs high over the Dec. 1 freeze that has locked up the hard-earned savings of millions of Argentines. Meanwhile, price hikes and worries about a devalued peso have thousands more on edge.

Edgardo Oltensdorf, an unemployed engineer, stood with hundreds of protesters in front of the downtown Congress building. Out of work for three years, he said President Eduardo Duhalde had not done enough to improve the economy after taking office early January.

"We need to call elections," he said of Duhalde, appointed to office by Congress. "He hasn't done anything to improve things."

Argentina is badly shaken after nearly four years of recession that have lofted unemployment rates above 18 percent. The country has defaulted on its vast $141 billion public debt and the peso has lost more than 50 percent of its value after Duhalde devalued the currency in early January.

Economy Minister Jorge Remes Lenicov has signaled Argentina will require some $23 billion in bailout funds, but the IMF is demanding a credible economic rescue plan first.

Duhalde's government has submitted a 2002 budget that Congress is expected to vote on later this week.

In other developments, a U.S. official said the Bush administration will withdraw Argentina from a group of 29 countries whose citizens are allowed to visit the United States without visas.

Citizens from eligible countries are permitted to travel to the U.S. for 90 days without visas. But many Argentines have been remaining in the United States beyond the time limit because of the country's economic crisis, said the official, asking not to be identified.

On Wednesday, long lines of Argentines angry and dismayed by the pending change formed outside the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires as they sought permission to travel to the United States.

www.nj.com/newsflash/inte...ernational

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), February 20, 2002


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