LA NACION, BUENOS AIRES HERALD (Argentina), BBC NEWS (UK)
BUENOS AIRES – Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Argentina’s capital — and other cities in the country and around the world — in a coordinated protest against the government of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, reports La Nacion.
The massive march in Buenos Aires was the largest in a series of “cacerolazos,” protests named for the cooking pots that participants hit to draw attention to problems including crime rates, inflation and political corruption, writes BBC News.
People gathered at the Obelisk, the crossroads of Rivadavia and Acoyte, Santa Fe and Callao and many towns in the greater Buenos Aires.
Similar protests took place in Argentina’s major cities as well as in Sydney, New York, Paris and Miami where there are significant Argentine communities, reports the Buenos Aires Herald.
Protesters also voiced their objections to restrictions introduced last year, and further sharpened this year, on the purchase of dollars.
Official figures say inflation is at 12%, but analysts say it is probably much higher.
In September, the International Monetary Fund warned Argentina of sanctions and gave the country three months to provide more reliable estimates.
The government has avoided directly acknowledging the protests but Kirchner’s official Facebook page noted Thursday morning that Argentina is a democracy where people are free to express their opinions and speak their mind:
President Fernandez was re-elected by a landslide to a second term in 2011, after taking over her husband in 2007.
Her approval ratings have since dropped and anger towards her policies has grown in the country.
