Venezuela’s opposition leaders have staged a general strike to push for a referendum on removing President Nicolas Maduro from power.
Many stores, businesses and schools stayed closed on October 28 and public transport was quieter than usual.
However, adherence to the strike was patchy and poorer areas largely ignored it.
Nicolas Maduro, who had warned companies they risked being seized if they joined the strike, said the walkout had failed.
Speaking to crowds of supporters, the president said the oil industry had ignored the strike, as had basic industries, banks, schools and transport.
Nicolas Maduro also announced measures to offset economic hardship – mostly caused by plummeting oil prices – by promising to implement a 40% rise of the minimum wage. It was the fourth increment this year.
The move has been dismissed by analysts as insignificant when the country faces spiraling inflation.
The center-right opposition coalition is also angry over a decision to block a referendum on removing Nicolas Maduro from power in Venezuela.
The coalition won a majority in the National Assembly last December and staged huge anti-government protests earlier this week.
The mass demonstrations came after a recall referendum process – an attempt to remove Nicolas Maduro from power – was suspended.
Opposition activists had gathered about 1.8 million signatures petitioning for the referendum, 400,000 of which were validated by electoral authorities.
The process was halted last week after officials said the signature collection process had been marred by fraud.
Parliament voted on October 25 to open a trial against Nicolas Maduro, whom lawmakers accuse of violating the constitution.
The president called it a “political trial” and said anyone who violated the constitution by launching it should be jailed.
Nicolas Maduro, a former bus driver and union leader, is blamed by the opposition for Venezuela’s dire economic situation and widespread food shortages.
In turn, he has accused the opposition of having links to foreign states, the US in particular, and of seeking to overthrow him to “lay their hands on Venezuela’s oil riches”.
Under Venezuela’s constitution, a recall referendum can be held once a president has served half of his term in office and the requisite steps are met.
So far, the opposition has only completed the first step of the process.
Greece is braced for a 48-hour general strike across public and private sectors in protest at a proposed new wave of spending cuts.
Protest marches – which regularly end in running battles with police – are planned for the centre of Athens.
The action coincides with a debate in parliament on the austerity measures, with a vote by MPs due on Wednesday.
Greece must back the measures, and the 2013 budget, to receive the next part of a bailout and avoid bankruptcy.
The latest strike starting on Tuesday includes public transport workers, lawyers, air traffic controllers, taxi drivers, journalists and hospital staff.
Some transport and media workers downed tools on Monday as well.
With proposals for a fifth consecutive cut to pensions, an increase in the retirement age and reductions to salaries, benefits and healthcare, the fury among Greece’s population is growing.
Greek ministers say the package should save a total of 13.5 billion euros ($17 billion) by 2016.
Approving the tough reforms and passing the 2013 budget are key to receiving a 31.5 billion-euro installment from the International Monetary Fund and European Union that has been on hold for months.
However, the Democratic Left Party which is the junior member of the three-party governing coalition, is refusing to back the package.
The second biggest coalition party, the socialist Pasok, is also facing a rebellion by some MPs.
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has tried to reassure the public, who have endured repeated rounds of austerity and a five-year recession.
“These will be the last cuts in wages and pensions,” he said on Sunday.
“We promised to avert the country’s exit from the euro and this is what we are doing. We have given absolute priority to this because if we do not achieve this everything else will be meaningless.”
Police have fired tear gas in Greece to disperse anarchists throwing petrol bombs near parliament in Athens.
Dozens were arrested during the one-day strike against planned spending cuts of 11.5 billion euros ($15 billion).
It was the first union-led action since a conservative-led coalition came to power in June.
The savings are a pre-condition to Greece receiving its next tranche of bailout funds, without which the country could face bankruptcy in weeks.
Greece needs the next 31 billion-euro installment of its international bailout, but with record unemployment and a third of Greeks pushed below the poverty line, there is strong resistance to further cuts.
Police have fired tear gas in Greece to disperse anarchists throwing petrol bombs near parliament in Athens
The government of conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is proposing to save money by slashing pensions and raising the retirement age to 67.
But it has also urged the troika representing Greece’s lenders – the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – to give it an extra two years to push through the austerity programme.
On Tuesday Greek Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras put a price on that delay for the first time – saying it would in effect cost as much as 15 billion euros.
The Greek protest follows a series of demonstrations in Spain and Portugal, which are also facing stringent austerity measures.
An estimated 50,000 people joined Wednesday’s protests, including doctors, teachers, tax workers, ferry operators and air traffic controllers.
Banks and historic sites in Athens remained shut, with many shopkeepers expected to close up early so they could attend demonstrations.
Schools and government services also closed down, though buses were still running, reportedly to help ferry people to the protests.
“We can’t take it anymore – we are bleeding. We can’t raise our children like this,” Dina Kokou, a teacher, told Reuters news agency.
“We won’t submit to the troika!” and “EU, IMF out!”, “People, fight, they’re drinking your blood,” protesters chanted.
A march past parliament turned violent as anarchists wearing black balaclavas and carrying sticks threw petrol bombs and broken bits of concrete at riot police on Syntagma Square.
Images showed a policeman on fire as the bombs exploded.
The strike was called by the country’s two biggest unions, which between them represent half the workforce.
A survey conducted by the MRB polling agency last week found that more than 90% of Greeks believed the planned cuts were unfair and a burden on the poor.
Greece was given a 110 billion-euro bailout package in May 2010 and a further 130 billion euros in October 2011, backed by the IMF and the other 16 euro nations.
That money is paid in installments, but correspondents say the lenders are reluctant to stump up the latest slice, as they feel Greece has not made enough effort to meet its deficit-reduction targets.
Greece needs the new money to make repayments on its debt burden. A default could result in the country leaving the euro.
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