Reply #9: Really?? "Thousands Protest IMF Accord in Honduras" [View All]

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TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras - Thousands of protesters across Honduras blocked streets and burned tires Tuesday to demand the government not renew a debt-payment agreement with the International Monetary Fund.

The protests were launched by the left-leaning Political Block and Democratic Unification Party, and supported by 30,000 elementary and high school teachers, doctors, nurses and blue-collar workers who staged a one-day work stoppage. The demonstrations also caused massive traffic jams.

Groups across Latin America, including the Political Block and Democratic Unification Party, long have argued that countries pay too high of a price to meet IMF conditions, which call for governments to slim down their operations, including cutting back on social programs, in exchange for debt relief.

The protests came a day after representatives of the IMF arrived in the capital to see whether Honduras qualifies as a highly indebted poor nation, which could result in the organization forgiving $960 million of $4.4 billion in foreign debt.

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/world/7013362.htm