UPRISING IN ARGENTINA Feb 22 2002

Tens of thousands of Argentines converged last weekend in Buenos Aires to forge alliances and develop alternatives to the economic and political crisis that is gripping their country. Through public meetings and protests, people from virtually every sector of Argentine society are taking matters into their own hands to come up with solutions to problems that their government and economists have failed to resolve.

On Friday, thousands of people converged in downtown to occupy Plaza de Mayo for a cacerolazo and to camp out overnight. On Saturday, an unprecedented gathering of workers and piqueteros occurred downtown. On Sunday, local asambleas from around the country converged in Buenos Aires for a national asamblea. And, in some parts of the country, workers have taken over and are running factories that owners have abandoned.

Once a model student of the International Monetary Fund and promoted as a model for the rest of Latin America to follow, Argentina fell into crisis under the weight of about $140 billion in international debt and has instead become a model of an imploding neoliberal economy. One observer described Argentina as "a laboratory of struggle."

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