It was a veritable pitched battle between the police and the people. As we go to press, the mood remains hot. It happened on Provincial Route 7, which links this city to the farming community of Centenario. The population there, furious about having to pay tolls and being met with repression in response to their protests, burned a truck belonging to the toll company. Rubber bullets and tear gas were fired, leaving one person wounded and two overcome [by tear gas].

The cities of Neuquén and Centenario are closely linked on a daily basis. To travel from one to the other, residents must pay a 75-cent toll. This is why they cut an alternate road through the surrounding farms about two months ago. The company Caminos de Comahue [which runs the toll road] closed off that road and launched a legal battle involving mutual charges, while local residents continued to open new paths and the company continued to shut them down.

The most recently built road was blocked yesterday by a semitrailer. At 6:00 p.m., outraged residents arrived from both sides. It began with about 200 people and grew to 1,000.

The police on the scene received reinforcements of officers, who began to descend from the hills firing tear gas.

Federico Frachia, 42, a member of the antitoll movement, was hit in the neck by a tear gas canister and ended up in the Centenario hospital, unconscious but not in danger. Two other people were overcome by the gas.

The police, however, ran out of ammunition and took refuge in the toll booth. That's when some demonstrators set fire to the truck blocking the road they wanted to travel through.
 
 
Related articles:
Workers in Argentina stage general strike
Workers' resistance on the rise
 
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home