Reply #2: Peruvian workers, farmers rally against Garcia [View All]

Peruvian workers, farmers rally against Garcia

REUTERS

8:59 a.m. July 9, 2008

LIMA – Thousands of Peruvians protested Wednesday to denounce President Alan Garcia's free-market policies, which they say have failed to benefit the poor during six years of booming economic growth.

Protesters waving red banners put up road blocks on highways in the regions of Ica, Puno and Cuzco, snarling traffic and closing rail service to the Inca ruins at Machu Picchu, Peru's top tourist destination, police and local radio reported. The capital, Lima, where most of Peru's recent economic growth has been concentrated, saw fewer protests.

The rallies, which coincided with a two-day farmers' strike that started Tuesday, were the latest in a series of protests held to demand the government do more to spread the Andean country's new wealth to workers and the poor. The poverty rate has fallen since Garcia took office two years ago, but still remains a lofty 40 percent.

“This is a government of the rich and of multinational corporations,” Mario Huaman, the leader of Peru's largest labor confederation, told reporters.”

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