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Argentina: Cops attack Squatters
Por f -
Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2003 at 10:25 PM
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attacked
Argentina: Cops attack Squatters
posted by Joe R. Golowka on Wednesday February 26 2003 @ 04:17PM PST
25 Feb 2003 22:14 Squatters battle police in old Buenos Aires
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Riot police clashed with hundreds of squatters being evicted from an abandoned building in old Buenos Aires on Tuesday, in Argentina's worst street violence since deadly riots seven months ago.
Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas as the squatters tore down metal barriers and lobbed stones at a nearby police station on the cobbled streets of the San Telmo quarter, renowned for its expensive antique shops, cafes and tango dancing.
Water canon vehicles and police wielding batons blocked off a main artery into the city that runs past the large building -- a former children's home -- just a 10-minute walk from the presidential palace.
A spokesman for the city's health department said 45 people suffered mostly light injuries, while local media reported around 50 people had been arrested. Police declined comment.
One elderly woman who was evicted from the building sobbed, "I don't have thousands of pesos to buy a house."
City authorities wanted to clear out the building and demolish it, arguing it could fall down and injure the squatters, some of whom had lived in the deserted structure for 15 years.
As Argentina struggles with its worst economic crisis in a century, squatter settlements have multiplied across the city, once dubbed the "Paris of South America."
Tuesday's clash between police and squatters appeared to be an isolated incident and squatters elsewhere in the city were left unchallenged by police.
It was the worst civil unrest to hit Argentine capital since June when two people were killed in clashes with police in anti- government protests that forced President Eduardo Duhalde to move up elections to April 27.