MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina: Pickets plan 100 blocks nationwide

A showdown that many fears could turn violent was brewing here Wednesday, the eve of planned massive road blockades by radical protesters known for masking their faces and carrying clubs.

The government called on the organizations of unemployed workers to reflect, and warned that it would take steps to prevent acts of violence during the roadblocks planned for Thursday.

Amid a controversy in which a court also intervened, President Nestor Kirchner's administration said that, although the population overwhelmingly opposed the blockades, he would maintain his decision "to not repress" the protests.

The most radical of these so-called "piquetero" groups, which bring traffic to a standstill to make their demands known, have called for protest rallies in more than 90 sites throughout the country Thursday.

Their main demand is that the government restore unemployment subsidies for some 250,000 heads of household. Kirchner's administration has rejected the demand and said it wants to gradually replace payments with jobs.

At present, nearly two million families are receiving the 150-peso ($50) monthly subsidy, which is aimed at reducing the high level of poverty that, according to official figures, affects some 55 percent of the population.

But critics of this assistance program claim it fosters political cronyism and lacks adequate control measures to ensure that the funds really reach their intended targets.

"Blocking roads is an absolutely unacceptable form of protest at this stage of events," said Cabinet chief Alberto Fernandez, who praised the willingness for dialogue President Kirchner has demonstrated since his inauguration last May.

After speculating that "there are people who look for provocation" to make themselves out to be victims, Fernandez noted that "there is a high level of (public) rejection against the act of blocking roads, and the government should avoid falling into that provocation." Piquetero groups first appeared during a protracted recession that started in 1998 and played a prominent role in the social unrest at the end of 2001 that led to then-President Fernando de la Rua's resignation.

Today's protest will include a blockade of the main roads to Buenos Aires, which could cut communication between the capital and its populous suburbs for several hours.

After the piqueteros called for the blockades Tuesday, a judge in La Plata ordered police to ensure that a 50-kilometer (31-mile) stretch of highway that links that city with the Argentine capital remains open.

Buenos Aires provincial authorities said they would obey the court order.

On the federal level, Interior Minister Anibal Fernandez said "we will try to ensure that citizens can move freely," but he did not specify what measures would be taken. "We trust there will be no attempt by those who insist on carrying out these blockades to trigger government repression and make themselves out to be victims later," the minister said.

For their part, the protest groups have already announced their decision to defy the La Plata judge's ruling.

"The impoverished situation of more than 250,000 families is more important than free movement," said piquetero leader Raul Castells.

Relations between the government and the piqueteros soured further last Friday when a small group of demonstrators attacked cars that were trying to make their way through a piquetero roadblock on a downtown Buenos Aires avenue.

The Cabinet chief told Radio Mitre that such an incident was "unacceptable" and called on the more radical piquetero groups to "realize the amount of public rejection you are arousing."