National strike paralyzes Argentina amid economic woes

[sandensea]

Argentine unions held a national strike Wednesday, forcing banks to shut their doors, airlines to ground flights and a soccer final to be postponed amid growing anger over President Mauricio Macri’s economic management.

Argentina’s biggest labor union federations, the CGT and CTA, launched the one-day strike as Macri faces a backlash months before a presidential election in October.

While the CGT and CTA did not call for demonstrations, numerous marchers were injured by rubber bullets.

Many Argentines are upset over a sharp recession and rising prices for food and utilities. Inflation in April hit 56%, among the highest in the world, while the economy shrank 6.2% in March from the same time last year.

Since the recession began following the collapse of a 2016-17 carry-trade debt bubble, some 283,000 registered jobs have been lost as of February - equivalent to 2.1 million jobs lost in the U.S.

Today's general strike was the sixth since Macri was elected in late 2015 on promises to jump-start sluggish growth with tax cuts and deregulation.

Critics note that his policies have instead led to a massive debt crisis, an IMF bailout, and the deepest recession since the 2001-02 collapse.

"People are asking us to send a message to the government, for them to stop creating smokescreens," CGT head Carlos Acuña said.

"This is not political; it's not against anyone. It is a demand for the situation to change so we may work with dignity."

At: https://www.wsj.com/articles/national-strike-paralyzes-argentina-amid-economic-woes-11559160328

"Because there's no other way," a sign posted by bank workers announcing today's general strike overlooks a quiet scene during a normally hectic weekday in Buenos Aires' financial district.

Macri's economic policies, which first created a financial bubble in 2016-17, followed by a collapse and a hike in interest rates to over 70% to help stymie capital flight, have been blamed for a sharp rise in layoffs and business failures over the last year.

Elections this October show opposition candidate Alberto Fernández defeating Macri by around 11%.

[Judi Lynn]

1. No wonder there's so much unrest. Fortunately for Macri, their protest was tame.

He has caused so much damage, destroyed ALL the hard work invested by progressive Presidents after the last hideous economic debacle. Looks like the pattern we've seen so many times already: fascists rape and plunder, they and their fat cat friends make out like bandits, totally decimating the economy, then progressives work like madmen trying to put everything back where it belongs, while the fascist attack constantly, claiming they are turning the countries over to commies, or socialists, etc., and the people need to throw them out or overthrow them, etc.

Macri's a lucky monster that the public hasn't become a threat to him, yet. He is certainly a threat to them.

Doesn't seem possible election time is almost here, already. I guess time passes quickly when you're in a state of shock concerning how greedy and dishonest and amoral a leader is, and you're fearing he's going to get even more violent before it's all over.

October can't arrive soon enough.

Thank you for this information.