Thousands of Argentines destroyed bank offices on Tuesday in protest against withdrawal restrictions imposed in last December by the government of former President Fernando de la Rua.
In San Salvador of Jujuy province, some 1,300 kilometers from the capital, nearly 3,000 protesters destroyed the banking establishments of Macro, Hipotecario, Citibank and BankBoston, for restrictions on bank withdrawal, dubbed "corralito."
At Casilda, 500 kilometers north of Buenos Aires, some 7,000 people smashed automatic teller machines and the windows of many bank offices, in a gesture of rejecting the austerity policy adopted by incumbent President Eduardo Duhalde.
The Duhalde government announced last Thursday that current accounts above US$10,000 and saving accounts above US$3,000 will be turned into fix-term deposits, which means they will be untouchable for at least one year. The new regulation, once issued, triggered more social protests, especially in the capital.
It was reported that both in Jujuy and Santa Fe province, demonstrators attacked office buildings of private firms in charge of public services such as telephone, electricity and water distribution.
The "corralito" which puts restrictions on bank deposit withdrawals was ratified by the Duhalde administration, in order to prevent capital flight and bankruptcy of the country's financial system.
The "corralito" is the most unpopular of the measures taken by Duhalde, who was sworn in as Argentina's fifth president in less than 15 days in the height of social turmoil across the country.
The Peronist president intends to keep order in finance within the framework of the severe socio-economic crisis faced by Argentina, which started more than three years ago.
(Xinhua News Agency January 16, 2002)
