Police Clash With Strikers in Ecuador
Demonstrators set up roadblocks and clashed with police Wednesday in scattered incidents at the start of a general strike to press for the doubling of the minimum wage.
Protesters threw stones and blocked roadways with bricks and flaming tires in the port of Guayaquil, Ecuador’s biggest city, television footage showed. Police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse demonstrators and clear streets.
Ecuador’s largest labor federation, the leftist-led United Workers Front, called the eight-hour strike to press its demands to double the minimum wage to $100 a month and impose a price freeze to help workers cope with inflation of 84% over the past 12 months.
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