Argentine protesters remember 2001 financial meltdown

2011-12-21 69

Demonstrators in Buenos Aires set ablaze the national Christmas tree outside the presidential palace.
They are marking ten years since a 2001 economic collapse turned the streets of the Argentine capital into a battleground.
Warning against the policies that led to the meltdown, protesters hit the fence outside a bank.
They also closed down roads, burned tyres, and set off fireworks.
(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PROTESTER DIEGO ALEJANDRO SAYING:
"We are proud to be here in the streets, proud to continue with the same idea. Our dead are being vindicated, all those who died for the people's struggle. Today they aren't with us, but morally and spiritually they struggle with us. And these young people here renew themselves and come out to fight for a more just society and for a better world."
When a bankrupt Argentina declared the world's biggest ever default in December 2001, thousands took to the streets to protest the loss of their livelihoods.
Once the smoke had cleared, 38 people were dead and the country was in tatters.
Yet today, riding a boom in soy bean prices, Argentina is the fastest growing economy in Latin America.
Nick Rowlands, Reuters.

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