"This demonstrates the political unity behind Argentina's commitment to fiscal discipline," said Horst Köhler, director of the imperialist-controlled International Monetary Fund. British Prime Minister Anthony Blair, on the eve of a trip to the country, said the move was "a very significant step forward."

The "zero deficit" plan, as the austerity package is called by the rulers, is aimed at cutting the annual budget by $1.5 billion through drastic cuts in wages and social pensions for public employees, as well as an increase in gas prices and elimination of tax breaks for the middle class.

Tens of thousands of unemployed workers and their families, joined by state workers, university teachers, railroad, airline, and public health workers, joined actions July 31 demanding jobs, food, unemployment relief, and the reversal of the austerity measures. Workers and the unemployed organized more than 200 roadblocks throughout the country, including in Buenos Aires, Mar del Plata, and the interior provinces of Tucumán, Córdoba, Jujuy, Salta, and Chaco.

"We fight for the dignity of our jobs," Oscar Ruiz told the Argentine daily El Tribuno. Ruiz is one of the organizers of the roadblock in General Mosconi, a city in the northern province of Salta near the border with Bolivia. Some 200 pickets there, under the close watch of border cops, blocked the highway for nine hours. The protesters were also demanding the release of Oscar Gil, José Barraza, and César Rainieri, three leaders of the unemployed movement who have been accused of sedition by the Argentine government.

Workers in General Mosconi have been carrying out roadblocks since May of this year and a confrontation in June resulted in the death of two people shot by the police, with 14 wounded and 39 arrested. The Coordinating Councils of the Unemployed Workers of General Mosconi and Tartagal has appealed for support to free the three activists.

In Córdoba, three workers were arrested and at least four were wounded when cops attacked a roadblock that had been set up by 300 workers from the provincial energy company who were protesting the government's plan to privatize the firm.

In the meantime Chrystian Colombo, head of de la Rúa's cabinet, announced that there would be a shortfall in revenue collection for the month of July and that he "hoped that no additional adjustments would need to be made."  
 
 
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