- Title: HONDURAS: HONDURAN PROTEST OVER GOVERNMENT ECONOMIC REFORMS
- Date: 26th August 2003
- Summary: (W1)TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS (AUGUST 26,2003) (REUTERS AUDIO AS INCOMING) 1. PROTESTERS RUNNING FROM TEAR GAS 0.07 2. PAN TO VARIOUS OF TEAR GAS BILLOWING IN STREETS (5 SHOTS) 0.25 3. WIDE OF FIRES FROM MOLOTOV COCKTAILS BURNING NEAR CONGRESS BUILDING 0.34 4. WIDE OF PEOPLE RUNNING FROM FIRE 0.42 5. VARIOUS OF TEAR GAS BILLOWING THROUGH STREETS (3 SHOTS) 0.53 6. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE AFFECTED BY TEAR GAS 1.04 7. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) POLICE OFFICER, JOSE FAJARDO, SAYING "What happened was that there was aggression towards police that were guarding the area. They threw rocks and shattered windows, even the windows of the church were broken. The police force had to be used in response to the aggression initiated by the protesters." 1.21 8. VARIOUS OF POLICE CLASHING WITH PROTESTERS 1.35 9. VARIOUS, PROTESTERS THROWING ROCKS AT BUILDINGS, BREAKING GLASS 1.53 10. VARIOUS, PROTESTERS RUNNING FROM TEAR GAS FIRED BY POLICE 2.01 11. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PROTESTER, ENRIQUE RAMIREZ, SAYING "This is a protest of the people, it is a protest of dignity, the voices of the people have spoken." 2.10 12. VARIOUS OF PROTESTER BEING ARRESTED 2.24 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 10th September 2003 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: TEGULCIGALPA, HONDURAS
- City:
- Country: Hong Kong Honduras
- Reuters ID: LVA3DOQJ00M8JWX0JL9DV4HV8H3A
- Story Text: Thousands of Hondurans protest economic reforms the
government homes will impress the International Monetary Fund.
Thousands of Hondurans clashed with police and
briefly stormed Congress in Tegucigalpa on Tuesday (August
26, 2003) after a protest against economic reforms the
government hopes will impress the International Monetary
Fund, turned violent.
Police and army troops fired rubber bullets and tear
gas at about 10,000 demonstrators after protesters threw a
Molotov cocktail at Congress.
"What happened was that there was aggression towards
police that were guarding the area. They threw rocks and
shattered windows, even the windows of the church were
broken. The police force had to be used in response to the
aggression initiated by the protesters," said police
officer, Jose Fajardo.
Authorities said eight policemen and soldiers, 12
protesters and a TV cameraman were wounded, none seriously.
Police arrested eight demonstrators.
Members of a protest group, including members of a
leftist political party and trade unions, wrecked
U.S.-owned fast food restaurants and a household appliances
store belonging to center-right President Ricardo Maduro.
Violent protests are unusual in Honduras, which avoided
the civil wars that wracked neighboring countries like El
Salvador in the 1980s.
The riot began as a peaceful demonstration against
Maduro's economic policies, which demonstrators say pander
to the demands of international lending bodies at the
expense of the Central American nation's many poor.
"This is a protest of the people, it is a protest of
dignity, the voices of the people have spoken," said
demonstrator, Enrique Ramirez.
Honduras' Congress last week passed a law allowing
private companies to buy into the state water sector and is
planning to regulate the salaries of about 100,000 public
sector workers.
Maduro hopes the measures will persuade the
International Monetary Fund to go ahead with a new credit
line for Honduras that has been on hold since November.
In recent years, low prices for coffee, the country's
biggest export, have further impoverished Honduras, one of
the Western Hemisphere's poorest nations.
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