ARGENTINA: HUNDREDS OF THE NATION'S POOR STAND OUTSIDE SUPERMARKETS HOPING FOR FOOD HANDOUTS
Record ID:
639563
ARGENTINA: HUNDREDS OF THE NATION'S POOR STAND OUTSIDE SUPERMARKETS HOPING FOR FOOD HANDOUTS
- Title: ARGENTINA: HUNDREDS OF THE NATION'S POOR STAND OUTSIDE SUPERMARKETS HOPING FOR FOOD HANDOUTS
- Date: 11th April 2002
- Summary: (W1) BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (APRIL 9, 2002) (REUTERS) SLV DEMONSTRATORS OF "BARRIOS DE PIE" (NEIGHBORHOODS ON THEIR FEET") MOVEMENT WALKING TOWARD SUPERMARKET; SLV SUPERMARKET EMPLOYEES MOVING CARTS TO CLOSE OFF ACCESS; SLV POLICE GUARDING THE FRONT OF THE SUPERMARKET; MV RESIDENTS CHANTING FOR FOOD; SCU CHILDREN; MV WOMEN APPLAUDING AND ASKING FOR FOOD (10 SHOTS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish), COORDINATOR OF THE "BARRIOS DE PIE" ("NEIGHBOURHOODS ON THEIR FEET") MOVEMENT, JORGE CEBALLOS, SAYING "There is a delegation from the exterior (IMF) monitoring the Argentine economy and it seems to us that it is good for the government to listen to the internal needs, to see how people are faring in light of the demands made on them from outside." DELEGATION OF "BARRIOS DE PIE" ("NEIGHBOURHOODS ON THEIR FEET") MOVEMENT ENTERING THE SUPERMERKET TO NEGOTIATE MV INTERIOR SUPERMERKET WITH CUSTOMERS; SLV EXTERIOR OF SUPERMARKET WITH POLICE GUARDING AND DEMONSTRATORS AWAITING DECISION BY SUPERMARKET (4 SHOTS) SLV CAR ARRIVING AT GOVERNMENT HOUSE; SLV ANOOP SINGH, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND REPRESENTATIVE, TO THE HOUSE OF GOVERNMENT (2 SHOTS) SLV GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES ARRIVING AT THE MINISTRY OF ECONOMICS; SLV POLICE GUARDING THE ENTRANCE TO THE MINISTRY OF ECONOMICS BUILDING; SLV DEMONSTRATORS MARCHING (7 SHOTS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) GOVERNMENT WORKERS' UNION OFFICIAL PABLO MICHELI, SAYING "If any of you know of a country that has followed the recipes of the International Monetary Fund and that is doing better, tell me, because I don't know of any, because we don't know of any." SLV DEMONSTRATORS CHEERING
- Embargoed: 26th April 2002 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA
- Country: Argentina
- Topics: General,Economy,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVADBDH6V9VL8DBRT0775LF0O751
- Story Text: As hundreds of the nation's poor stand outside
supermarkets hoping for a food handout, government employees
have demonstrated against the arrival of International
Monetary Fund representatives who met with top government
officials
About 500 poor people including unemployed, women and
children from poor neighborhoods in Buenos Aires, stood in
front of supermarkets Tuesday (April 9, 2002) to receive free
foodstuffs, as part of a new day of demands to solve the most
pressing needs of the poorest people in the country.
Meanwhile, Argentines kept up their protests against the
visit of an International Monetary Fund negotiating team and
denounced the multilateral financing organisation as an arm of
imperialism that has no room in Argentina.
Even though the dispossessed started arriving in front of
supermarkets at around 11:00 AM (1500 GMT), only managers at
one store informed the protesters that they would receive bags
filled with foodstuffs.
Riot police presence was heavy around the stores but
that didn't prevent unemployed and self-declared hungry people
from demanding help to feed themselves and their families.
Neighbors of one store near downtown Buenos Aires
demanded 1,500 bags filled with foodstuffs and warned that
they would stay in front of the store until their demands are
satisfied.
The demonstration, attended basically by women
accompanied by their children, was pacific and there were no
reports of clashes with police.
Authorities decided no to take any chances and they sent
heavily armed riot police supported by assault vehicles and
fire trucks.
The demands for basic foodstuffs grow in direct
proportion as poverty in the country. According to private
observers, poverty has grown at an alarming rate, reaching now
a full 45 percent of the Argentine population, while 25
percent lives in extreme poverty.
The government of President Eduardo Duhalde is trying to
negotiate an agreement with the International Monetary Fund to
get billions of dollars in financial aid, but he faces
increasing popular resistance.
"There is a delegation from the exterior (IMF)
monitoring the Argentine economy and it seems to us that it is
good for the government to listen to the internal needs, to
see how people are faring in light of the demands made on them
from outside," said Jorge Ceballos, leader or a popular
opposition group known as Neighborhoods on their Feet.
"If any of you know of a country that has followed the
recipes of the International Monetary Fund and that is doing
better, tell me, because I don't know of any, because we don't
know of any," added Pablo Micheli, leader of the Government
Workers' Union in the province of Buenos Aires. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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