- Title: ARGENTINA: SMALL BLAST AT SECOND ANNIVERSARY MARCH OF VICTIMS OF 2001 RIOTS
- Date: 20th December 2003
- Summary: (W1) BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (DECEMBER 20,2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. VARIOUS OF DEMONSTRATORS GATHERED IN PLAZA DE MAYO 0.16 2. WIDE OF RALLY 0.21 3. VARIOUS OF MAN HOLDING UP POSTER WITH NAME OF DIEGO LAMAGNA , ONE OF VICTIM OF 2001 RIOTS 0.23 4. WIDE OF RALLY 0.28 5. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LEADER OF DEMONSTRATORS, JORGE CEBALLOS SAYING: "Some people understand that the new administrations of (President Nestor) Kirchner is more of the same. We do not believe that, we some some very positive things, the annulling of amnesty laws, we see it as a positive move to imprison former military repressors. But we do have autonomy to criticize, just like we don't say that it is the same, we can say that we do not agree." 0.54 6. WIDE OF DEMONSTRATORS LEAVING PLAZA DE MAYO 1.00 7. GENERAL VIEW OF PLAZA WITH GIANT FLAG 1.04 8. VARIOUS OF DEMONSTRATORS (2 SHOTS) 1.13 9. WIDE OF MARCHERS WALKING TOWARDS A STATUE 1.19 10. SLV MARCHERS 1.24 11. VARIOUS OF FAMILY MEMBERS OF VICTIMS FROM DECEMBER 20 HOLDING PHOTOGRAPHS (2 SHOTS) 1.33 12. WIDE OF MARCHERS WITH RED BANNERS 1.38 13. WIDE OF EVENT ORGANIZERS TRYING TO CLEAR PLAZA SO AMBULANCE CAN COME IN 1.42 14. VARIOUS OF INJURED BEING TENDED TO BY AMBULANCE WORKERS (2 SHOTS) 1.51 15. VARIOUS OF INJURED BEING CARRIED AWAY TO AMBULANCES (3 SHOTS) 2.13 16. SLV AMBULANCE DRIVING AWAY 2.18 17. SLV TRASH CAN ON FIRE 2.24 18. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) UNIDENTIFIED DEMONSTRATOR SAYING: "This is one more incident, like the one in Jujuy and Neuquen." 2.30 11. CLOSE OF BACK OF INJURED MAN 2.36 12. VARIOUS OF POLICE ON SITE 2.39 13. VARIOUS OF CROWD 2.51 14. VARIOUS OF INJURED BEING TENDED TO 3.02 15. GENERAL VIEW OF PLAZA 3.04 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 4th January 2004 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA
- Country: Argentina
- Reuters ID: LVAC1XZJXQ7UEJ7W1G3SGR5B3RX2
- Story Text: Explosion mars peaceful march in Argentina to
commemorate second anniversary of riots that ousted an
elected government.
At least three Argentines were badly injured on
Saturday (December 20) when a small blast marred a largely
peaceful mass march by tens of thousands of jobless people
to mark the second anniversary of riots that ousted an
elected government.
The cause of the blast, which came in the middle of a
rally near the presidential palace, was unclear. A doctor
told local TV that three people were badly burned after a
device exploded, apparently in a garbage bin near the
palace.
Some protesters said it was a homemade bomb. Others
said a small gas canister exploded accidentally. Witnesses
said several other protesters suffered light injuries.
Police had no comment.
The blast came as demonstrators wound up the biggest
protest since President Nestor Kirchner came to power in
May. Columns of banner-waving unemployed clapping their
hands in unison streamed around the presidential palace.
Widespread looting in 2001 and the deaths of at least
27 people, ending in the ouster of President Fernando de la
Rua, shocked this once-wealthy South American nation to the
core.
Two years later, there were few police on the streets
and Kirchner's left-of-centre government said it would do
nothing to provoke the protesters. City centre storefronts
were barricaded and the presidential palace cordoned off.
Kirchner is hugely popular in polls but unemployed
protests have proved one of the most difficult issues he
has faced. Many Argentines, tired of traffic chaos, have
called on Kirchner to end what they say is a lenient stance
to road blockades.
Protests by groups of unemployed -- known as piqueteros
-- have become a near daily event since Latin America's No.
3 economy suffered a crash last year that rivalled that of
the U.S. Great Depression.
As the economy slowly recovers, Argentina's
unemployment rate has fallen over three percentage points
in the last year to just over 14 percent. But many say it
is much higher because the government counts welfare
recipients as employed.
Groups of unemployed, including mothers with children,
were joined by human rights groups and leftist parties on
Saturday.
Echoing the growing impatience with free market reforms
in Latin America, protesters criticized the International
Monetary Fund and a proposed free trade accord with the
United States as doing nothing to alleviate the poverty
that affects more than half of all Argentines.
Despite pressure to stop the protests, Kirchner is wary
that a crackdown could result in violence or even deaths,
as happened as recently as last year when two piqueteros
were shot to death during clashes with police.
Polls in recent months show some two-thirds of voters
disapprove of Kirchner's stance. But his position is
praised by many politicians for ensuring the food riots of
two years ago do not resurface.
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