Thousands in Argentina protest teacher's death; general strike

Apr 9, 2007, 20:15 GMT

   Buenos Aires - Amidst a general strike that has curtailed public services, many thousands of people demonstrated Monday through the streets of Buenos Aires, Neuquen, Salta and other Argentine cities to protest the death of a teacher killed by police in a demonstration last week.

Trade unions and other social organizations accused centre-right governor of Neuquen Jorge Sobisch - a presidential candidate in the South American country's October election - of being responsible for the death of the teacher.

   Carlos Fuentealba, 41, died in Neuquen on Friday a day after he weas wounded. A provincial police sergeant has been arrested for allegedly firing the grenade which hit the teacher's head.

Most schools and universities in the country remained closed, while subways, trains and buses did not function for an hour or two, hospitals provided only emergency care and other sectors also contributed to the strike.

'We are here not only to repudiate the man who pulled the trigger but also the person who gave the order,' said Nora Cortinas of the human rights organization Madres de Plaza de Mayo, who read a consensus document in central Buenos Aires.

Trade union leader Hugo Yasky went further and directly accused the governor of the southern province of Neuquen.

'Sobisch is intellectually responsible (for the crime). There is a murderer whose name is Sobisch who has to pay, leave (the governorship), answer before the courts and pay for the crime committed with jail time,' said Yasky.

While thousands of people demonstrated in Buenos Aires, thousands more gathered in Neuquen.

Teachers in the southern province said that they plan to camp before the seat of the governorship until the crime is solved and the pay demands that the dead teacher had been agitating or are met.

   Trade union leaders called upon provincial authorities 'to solve conflicts in a peaceful fashion and opening channels for dialogue with workers.'