[stop-imf] Paraguay: violence against strikers protesting IMF privatization

[Robert Weissman]

Notes from Soren Ambrose of 50 Years is Enough, followed by AFP story

Protesters clashed with police yesterday at the start of a 48-hour general
strike against Paraguay's plans to privatize its telephone, water and
railroad companies, leaving 12 people injured and at least 10
demonstrators under arrest, reports Reuters, noting that a presidential
spokesman said the privatizations were part of a series of measures
demanded by the World Bank and the IMF, calling them "nonnegotiable":  
Paraguay needs to meet its agreements with the IMF for it to access some
$400 million in loans from the World Bank.

20 injured as police disperse strikers in Paraguay
ASUNCION, June 22 (AFP) - Some 20 people were injured and five arrested in
Paraguay's capital Thursday as police attempted to disperse workers on the
first day of a 48-hour general strike, a trade union leader said.
Demonstrators were injured as mounted police and anti-riot police hit them
with truncheons and kicked them, Percio Duarte, secretary general of the UST
transport union, said.
Police also fired water cannons to disperse about 300 protesters in the
district of Fernando de la Mora, east of Asuncion.
Several journalists, including an AFP photographer, were hurt.
Clashes also occurred near the Asuncion bus terminus and on Artigas avenue,
one of the main roads to the north of the capital, as strikers attempted to
block public transport.
Two buses were set on fire early Thursday, but no one has claimed
responsibility for that attack.
Army and police trucks offered transport to residents of Asuncion, where
nearly half the shops were closed, according to Paraguayan radio stations.
The strikers are protesting planned privatizations and alleged violations of
labor laws by employers.