Argentinian looting spreads amid police strikes

[jimmy olsen]

The police shouldn't be allowed to hold the nation hostage this way. 

www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/10/argentinian-looting-spreads-police-strikes

Argentinian looting spreads amid police strikes

Five dead as at least 19 of 23 provinces hit by mobs taking advantage of police forces demanding pay rise to match inflation

    Associated Press in Argentina   
    theguardian.com, Tuesday 10 December 2013 10.26 GMT   

Outbreaks of looting have spread across Argentina as mobs take advantage of strikes by police demanding pay raises to match inflation.

Videos show people shattering glass doors and stealing everything from mattresses and mobile phones to prams and beer.

By Monday night, the death toll from the riots had reached five as officers protested outside negotiating sessions, citizens secured themselves in their homes and businesses and federal troops were deployed to troublespots.

The trouble spread to at least 19 of Argentina's 23 provinces, and most business shut down in many cities before the December holidays, when Argentina's simmering conflicts have a history of exploding in the summer heat.

President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's cabinet chief, Jorge Capitanich, said the crimes were premeditated acts by groups that wanted to generate chaos on the eve of the 30th anniversary of Argentina's return to democracy.

"In some ways, this amounts to the crime of treason," Capitanich told reporters.

He said the national government was in continual contact with provincial leaders and that any police pay dispute must be resolved through negotiation, not extortion.

The government has sent federal police, border patrol officers and other security forces to hot pots where people have armed themselves in fear of mobs. Prosecutors were put on alert to build criminal cases against looters, and the justice minister, Julio Alak, warned that people co-ordinating violence through social networks would be charged.

Looting first broke out in Cordoba province last week, damaging hundreds of businesses and leaving two dead and more than 100 people injured before the governor and police reached a deal that effectively doubled police salaries to 12,000 pesos (£1,170) a month.

The national government initially blamed the situation on Cordoba's governor, a political rival of Fernández. But by Monday, it was clear that even close presidential allies were struggling as police earning base salaries of less than 6,000 pesos a month staged copycat strikes across Argentina.

A third victim died when his supermarket was set on fire as he defended it from a mob in Almirante Brown, Buenos Aires province. The fourth and fifth victims were young men who were inside stores being looted in Entre Rios and Jujuy provinces.

With retail prices rising at more than 25% a year, other public employees are watching the police negotiations closely.

Rio Negro's governor settled his province's 21-hour police strike by raising base salaries to 8,500 pesos, only to see health workers walk off the job demanding their own rises on Monday. Their union said many public hospitals around the country were seeing similar demands.

Tuesday marks 30 years since the swearing in of President Raúl Alfonsín ended Argentina's 1976-83 dictatorship. A huge stage has been constructed in front of the government palace and all political parties invited to celebrate the anniversary together.

But the late president's son, politician Ricardo Alfonsín, said they should probably postpone the show due to the riots.

[derspiess]

Private security guards FTW.