IMPERIALISM SCREWS ARGENTINA

US INTELLIGENCE BEHIND TARGETTING OF ‘LEFT’ GROUPS.
While the government claims the sharpshooters are from radical leftist groups seeking to provoke chaos, unnamed "sources linked to foreign intelligence organizations" cited by the Buenos Aires daily Clarin suggest that the sharpshooters may have links to the Gendarmeria's intelligence and counter-terrorism units. The sources note that two Gendarmeria commanders who were trained in the US had been seen in the area around General Mosconi. Clarin hints that the June 19 violence may have been prompted by the Gendarmeria's interest in playing a greater role in the northern area of Salta and Jujuy provinces--the two Argentine provinces which border on Bolivia--thus allowing more control over illegal activities such as drug trafficking which are prevalent in the region. Among the protesters arrested in Salta are at least two former Gendarmeria agents, according to Clarin. [Clarin 6/24/01]
The police action was ordered by federal judge Abel Cornejo; when the Gendarmeria intervened, protesters had been blocking Route 34--a strategic national highway linking Salta province to Bolivia--for nearly three weeks. The protest was organized by the Union of Unemployed Workers (UTD) to press a series of demands, including job programs, food aid, rehiring of laid-off municipal workers, justice in the cases of four people killed in earlier demonstrations, and a wage hike for construction workers building a local hospital, from $0.90 a $2.50 per hour. Similar incidents took place in General Mosconi and the surrounding areas in May and November of last year [see Updates #537, 565].
General Mosconi enjoyed an oil boom when the state oil company, Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales (YPF), had operations there; when YPF was privatized a decade ago, thousands lost their jobs and the local economy never recovered. More than 70% of the population is unemployed.

From: Bulletin No 1 ‘Argentina in a state of anti-capitalist upheaval’
Published by Salta Solidarity (New Zealand/Aotearoa)
Distributed by: San Francisco (US) Committee in Support of the Salta Workers (SFCSSW)
email: SaltaSolidarity [at] yahoo.com
http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/supportthesaltaworkers