AUT: [iso-8859-1] Perù (fwd)

[Chris <red@xxxxxxx>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 08:23:45 +0100
From: Andrea Benetton <andbene@xxxxxx>

-----------------------Reuters

                  October 1, 1998
                  Web posted at: 12:08 a.m. EDT (0408 GMT)

                  LIMA, Peru (Reuters) -- Hundreds of
                  striking workers broke through the
                  main gates of Peru's presidential
                  palace on Wednesday and stormed the
                  parade ground, where they clashed with police and
soldiers,                   witnesses said.

                  In Peru's most violent protest in years, at least 300
              workers, demonstrating
                  against President Alberto Fujimori's possible re-election
bid                   and demanding
                  more jobs, smashed palace windows and raided a basement
                storage room
                  during three hours of violence that rocked the city
center.

                  In a 30-minute battle, dozens of police and soldiers, who
burst from the
                  palace's main entrance door, fired shots in the air and
pushed the protesters
                  from the parade area back into Lima's main square.

                  Government Palace and its parade area, where the
president holds martial
                  ceremonies to welcome visitors, is a symbol of Fujimori's
statesmanship and
                  was believed by Peruvians to be one of the most heavily
guarded sites in the
                  country.

                  Fujimori inspects the damage

                                               During the battle, Fujimori
remained
                                               inside the palace. He later
inspected
                                               the battle ground --
littered with glass,
                                               banners and sticks -- from an
                                               upper-story window.

                                               In the disturbances, which
also
                                               included clashes with police
outside
                                               Congress and the looting of
several
                                               downtown shops, at least a
dozen
                                               people were injured and
about 20 were
                                               arrested, authorities and
witnesses
                  said.

                  The palace incident, which was the worst bout of violence
in the protest,
                  appeared to erupt spontaneously. It mainly involved
teen-agers.

                  Brandishing sticks and iron bars, the teens congregated
outside Government
                  Palace and, as they pressed against the iron railings,
the gates broke open,
                  allowing them to flood onto the parade ground.

                  Strikers protest congressional vote

                  About 5,000 workers, obeying a nationwide strike call by
Peru's largest unions,
                  marched in Lima to protest a congressional vote that
quashed calls for a
                  referendum over whether Fujimori could run for
re-election.

                  The strike was partially obeyed in
                  Lima and several other cities, where
                  workers marked the protest with
                  peaceful marches, union leaders said.

                  The protesters at Government Palace
                  initially crowded onto the parade
                  ground -- the size of a small soccer
                  field -- without encountering
                  opposition.

                  They spent about 15 minutes breaking
                  palace windows with sticks and smashing furniture inside
the store, where
                  they helped themselves to ceremonial uniforms and swords.
They daubed a
                  side wall of the presidential palace with graffiti
labeling Fujimori a "dictator."

                  About 50 soldiers and police with riot shields burst out
of the palace and threw
                  tear gas canisters, forcing the workers back into the
main square. Other police
                  fired shots in the air from a nearby roof, witnesses said.

                  A Machiavellian plot?

                  Political analysts and local media commentators
questioned how the security
                  forces, which usually keep a tight control on protests in
Lima, allowed
                  Wednesday's march to become so violent. Some suspected a
Machiavellian
                  plot.

                  "The government has permitted these incidents to happen.
It would not
                  surprise me that they themselves provoked it to justify
criticizing the march
                  and avoiding new protests in the future," sociologist
Juan Osio said.

                  Fujimori's popularity dropped sharply after last month's
vote in Congress
                  quashing any referendum bid. While his economic policies
are popular with
                  foreign investors, they have failed to reduce
unemployment.

                  Peruvian law does not make clear whether Fujimori can
serve more than two
                  terms -- a legal loophole that has caused huge
controversy since Congress
                  passed a 1996 bill interpreting the constitution to allow
him a possible third bid.

-----------------------Reuters


Andrea Benetton
IWW x346792
Via Molino 1
21047 Saronno (VA)
Italia

Info in italiano sull' IWW
http://space.tin.it/economia/anbene





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