general strike in Colombia

National strike begins in Colombia, aims to paralyze country
SEGOVIA, Colombia — Just before midnight, masked men armed with sticks began hurling rocks at 40 heavily armed riot police, who responded with gunshots and flooding the street with tear gas. As dawn broke on this usually bustling gold-mining town, stores were shuttered, streets were blocked with sandbags, rocks and smoldering tires. At least eight police and five civilians were injured in the melee.
The actions marked the beginning of a national strike aimed at paralyzing this Andean nation in hopes of winning a laundry list of concessions. President Juan Manuel Santos has accused guerrillas and other armed groups of trying to infiltrate the protests and ratchet up tension as the country is in the midst of delicate peace talks with the FARC rebels and heading into elections next year. The agrarian strike, as it’s known, is broad-based and far-flung. Coffee, cacao, potato and rice farmers have joined ranks with cargo truckers, gold miners and others. Teachers and labor unions are also joining in.
Their demands are equally ample, calling for reduced fuel and fertilizer prices, the cancellation of free trade agreements, increased subsidies and the end of a crackdown on informal mining operations, among others. Government negotiators worked through the weekend and managed to mollify some sectors in some parts of the country but it wasn’t enough to stop what many believe could become the largest protest of the year. The National Police said at least 20 people had been detained and estimated that some 12,500 were participating in protests in 20 different municipalities. But there was no mention of the injuries in Segovia or elsewhere.
More than 16,000 police have been trying to dismantle roadblocks that were snarling traffic on a day when many were trying to return home after a three-day weekend. Bus transportation was also anemic as companies decided to suspend service to avoid run-ins with protesters. At a news conference in Havana, where peace talks are taking place, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, backed the protesters. “We hope that the government’s hackneyed custom of linking all social and popular protests with the boogeyman of the FARC isn’t an excuse for violence from the armed forces,” guerrilla commander Ivan Marquez read from a statement. He also said the government should reconsider a free-trade agreement with the United States, which he said had put national farmers at a disadvantage against a flood of subsidized U.S. agricultural imports.
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2013/08/19/3156525/national-strike-begins-in-colombia.html

Arrests in Agricultural National Strike in Colombia
Bogota, Aug 19 (Prensa Latina) The popular agricultural national strike advances Colombia with several arrests by the security forces on demonstrators and journalists from alternative media. According to local media reports, members of various social sectors began arriving at points in towns of Boyaca, Putumayo, Tolima, Nariño, Valle del Cauca, Arauca, amid a strong presence of more than 16 000 troops deployed , that have retained more than 50 people already.
The protesters, tired of the economic policies of the Government, came to protest peacefully to demand, among other things, the implementation of measures and actions against the crisis of agricultural production and social investment in the rural and urban population in education, health, housing, public services and roads. Telesur television network reported that in the northern department of Antioquia,-which already recorded one wounded by firearms and other four by stun-bombs, protest leaders have been threatened with pamphlets. Huila and Putumayo has also reported several arrests and there are about 50 people arrested the Cauca, including journalists from alternative media, Telesur reported.
The Association of Peasant Reserve Zone reported that the minor Alejandro Vargas is in serious condition after the army fired on the road against communities at the Tulua-Buga road. In a press conference today the Strikes National Command said the government does not give guarantees to exercise the right to protest. The strike is reflected in the social networks in which people are pronounced under the tag # YoParoPor. From early morning hours, three strikes are scheduled in parallel in Bogota stared by farmers, students, workers, teachers, doctors, and other sectors, which will converge at the Plaza Bolivar.
http://www.plenglish.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1779481&Itemid=1

Zero Hour Arrives, Strike Begins in Colombia
Bogota, Aug 19 (Prensa Latina) Thousands of Colombians from different social sectors took the country´s main roads in a national strike, amid the large deployment of police units with the order of taking action against those who block the roads. More than 16,000 policemen and the Mobile Anti-Disturbances Squadron were deployed in 19 cities and 16 main highways and two people have already been arrested in the main road linking Bogotawith Tunja, in the surroundings of Puente de Boyaca, reported El Tiempo daily. Farmers, indigenous, Afro-Colombians, among people from other sectors, remain at mass gathering points.
Residents started to mobilize for the strike since Saturday in 30 of the 32 Colombian departments, including Antioquia, Choco, Valle del Cauca, Nariño, Putumayo, Huila, Caqueta, Tolima, and Meta,a mong others. Strikers say that the current government has established anti workers and anti popular policies which restrict and limit rights, privatize institutions and give Colombian natural resources to transnationals. Those policies, added the protesters, promote land sales to foreigners, destroy national production through the free trade agreements, increase the prices of the family shopping basket, raise fuel prices, then worsening the current economic crisis that they themselves do not recognize. The agricultural farmers demand to protect the agricultural and livestock production, the territorial recognition of the farmers community and the social investment in the countryside.
http://www.plenglish.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1779061&Itemid=1