Ecuador Unions Begin Strike Aimed at President, His Austerity Policies

Unions began a 48-hour general strike Wednesday to protest government austerity policies and call for President Abdala Bucaram’s resignation as violent clashes injured at least 18 people.

At least 10 demonstrators and eight police officers were hurt when an angry crowd of protesters tried to approach the president’s palace in Quito, witnesses and police sources said.

Local television showed police firing tear gas at marchers, but the protesters caught the gas canisters, threw them back and forced the officers to retreat.

“We want him out! We want him out! We want him out!” a group of demonstrators had shouted earlier in the day near the palace, which was cordoned off with barbed wire. Bucaram played down the tension.

“There is an atmosphere of peace throughout the republic,” he told reporters. “In Quito, the strike is being carried out in a fine manner.”

Ecuador, an Andean country of 11.7 million people, has suffered social unrest since Bucaram’s 6-month-old government launched an austerity package last month including hikes in electricity, telephone and public transport rates.