PERU: Striking Peruvian teachers clash with police

Teachers block trains to tourist sight Machu Picchu and march in Lima during nationwide strike. Peruvian police clashed with striking teachers who blocked the trains to the famed Machu Picchu ruins and marched across the country on Thursday (July 12) as part of a nationwide strike by public employees. Hundreds of protesters blocked the tracks of Peru Rail, the private firm that runs trains shuttling thousands of tourists to the ancient ruins in the southeast corner of the country. Police fired tear gas at protesters who threw rocks and stones at them and set a train car on fire in the city of Juliaca, near the Bolivian border. They also retook control of the Inca Manco Capac airport in Juliaca, which on Tuesday (July 10) had been ransacked by thousands of angry teachers. The strikes are headed by public school teachers, who are protesting new government legislation on teacher accreditation. Over the past week, hey have been joined by farmers, construction workers and unionists calling for better working conditions and social investments. Hundreds of the protesters marched in Lima, paralysing traffic in the nation's capital. Police swept in and detained the protesters for disrupting the public order. The civil unrest is one of the biggest tests faced by President Alan Garcia's presidency. Just three weeks ago, Garcia was celebrating his one-year anniversary at the helm, and touting the country's economy which grew by eight percent last year and is expected -- even by conservative estimates-- to grow by seven percent more this year. But half of Peru still lives in poverty and many Peruvians want Garcia to do more. Presidential approval ratings dropped to new lows last month - with the rate of disapproval trumping for the first time his number of supporters during his election in 2006.

ITN Source | July 13, 2007

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