[A-List] Argentina: People protest- Companies form lobby

[Sabri Oncu <soncu@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I hope our Argentine friends are doing better than their Turkish
friends.

My Argentine Friends, any comments?

Best,
Sabri

++++++++++++++++


Wednesday, 29 May, 2002, 23:25 GMT 00:25 UK
Day of protest in Argentina

By Stephen Cviic
BBC correspondent in Buenos Aires

Tens of thousands of people across Argentina are taking part in a
day of protest against the government's handling of the economic
crisis, the worst in the country's history.

The protest was called by the most left-wing of Argentina's trade
union federations, the CTA, and it is also being joined by groups
representing pensioners, the unemployed and students.

Traffic in the capital, Buenos Aires, is unusually light and the
protest is expected to culminate in a big demonstration outside
Congress.

It is not a good day to travel around Argentina.

Protesters who say they are fed up with hunger, unemployment and
what they call the government's surrender to the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) have set up roadblocks all over the country.

Most of the access roads into Buenos Aires have been cut. At one
roadblock, protesters stood behind burning tyres waving Argentine
flags and burning American ones.

Some workers are on strike - schools and hospitals have been
particularly affected.

There have also been demonstrations throughout the country.

So far, little violence has been reported, apart from the by now
familiar attacks on banks by disgusted savers. Many of them have
been unable to get access to their money since December.

Unattractive options

The government of President Eduardo Duhalde urged people not to
join in the protests, saying that some of the activists wanted to
provoke a situation of chaos.

But there was never any danger of Argentina grinding to a
complete halt since the larger, Peronist unions are only taking
part in certain places.

President Duhalde finds himself caught between several
unattractive options.

He seems convinced that an agreement with the IMF is the only way
to start an economic recovery, but to get there he has to push
through unpopular measures, including big budget cuts.

For the time being, he is less worried about the anger on the
streets and more concerned about his fellow politicians.

Many of them have ambitions of their own and have made little
secret of their desire to replace him in the not too distant
future.

Full at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_2015000/20
15354.stm

+++++++++++++++++++

05/29 14:09
Argentina's Biggest Companies Form New Lobby Group (Update1)
By David Plumb

Buenos Aires, May 29 (Bloomberg) -- Argentina's biggest
companies, including units of Repsol YPF SA and FleetBoston
Financial Corp., joined forces to lobby a government that is
under pressure from unions to control prices and raise salaries.

"We must work in an economic system based on free markets," said
Oscar Vicente, vice chairman of Perez Companc SA, Argentina's
largest publicly traded company.

Vicente presides over the 37-member business group, called the
Argentine Business Association, which also includes executives
from a unit of Dow Chemical Co. and Telecom Argentina Stet-France
Telecom SA.

Businesses seek to offset calls from labor leaders and other
groups that are pressuring President Eduardo Duhalde to cap price
increases after this year's 72 percent decline in the peso, order
higher wages and reject spending cuts demanded by the
International Monetary Fund.

Unions staged their second strike this month. Organizers of the
protest, which included unemployed groups, said more than 10,000
demonstrators cut off 1,000 roads across the country, state-owned
Telam news agency reported.

Duhalde is struggling to find a plan to stabilize the currency
and slow contraction of an economy that analysts forecast will
shrink 15 percent this year.

The business association created late yesterday combines two
lobby groups and represents 40 percent of gross domestic product,
Clarin newspaper reported.

Business Confidence

Executives said Duhalde has undermined business confidence by
breaking contracts with public service providers, defaulting on
$95 billion of debt and devaluing the currency without presenting
a monetary program to contain inflation and the printing of
pesos.

To curb inflation, Argentina has frozen gas, electricity, local
telephone and other utility rates since January, causing
companies such as MetroGas SA and Telecom Argentine to default on
debts. Companies have $20 billion of outstanding
dollar-denominated bonds that are increasingly difficult to
service from peso revenue.

Economy Minister Roberto Lavagna said the government wouldn't
raise rates until it signs an agreement with the IMF, something
he expects in late June.

Duhalde made a nod to unions this month by appointing former
labor leader Graciela Camano to the Labor Ministry. Duhalde, who
took office in January, seeks to avoid the riots and protests
that killed 27 people and brought down former President Fernando
de la Rua in December.

The recession has increased unemployment to more than 25 percent
and left more than 40 percent of Argentines living in poverty.
Prices for staple foods such as flour and vegetable oil have more
than doubled since the peso was floated in January.

During his five months in office, Duhalde has backtracked on
plans to shore up banks, set a fixed exchange rate and other
policies as he juggles conflicting demands from business, labor
and social groups.

The peso fell to 3.61 per dollar, accumulating a 6.4 percent
decline over the last four days.

"What we're going to tell the president is, if he doesn't start
to do something, companies are going to collapse," Vicente said.