With Many Police On Strike, Looters Hit Argentina's Stores!

Chaos is visiting the Christmas season in Argentina, 

as police in many regions have refused to work until 

they get a pay raise.

The lack of law enforcement has spurred looting

 in which at least five people have died 

and hundreds more have been injured. Some shop owners 

have taken up arms to defend themselves.

In Chaco province, the casualties include police 

deputy superintendent Cristián Vera, who died after 

being shot by looters in a supermarket, Data Chaco 

reports. Photos of the looting depict stores with broken 

windows and metal security bars wrenched open. Some 

stores were forced to close ahead of the upcoming holiday.

"The violence has spread to 19 out of 23 provinces, and 

local news describes shocking scenes: A shop owner was 

killed when looters set his store on fire," NPR's Lourdes 

Garcia-Navarro reports. "Banks, supermarkets, retail 

businesses and public transportation have shut down 

in many cities."

Lourdes says other workers in the public sector are 

considering staging strikes of their own "in order to 

get a bigger paycheck that will give them what they 

say is a living wage."

Here's more background from journalist John Otis, 

who filed a report for NPR's Newscast unit:

"The looting first broke out in Cordoba province last

week, leaving two dead and more than 100 people

injured before the local police agreed to a deal that

doubled their monthly salaries to about $1,900.

"Police are demanding pay raises to keep up with

the country's 25 percent annual inflation. One

person died when he tried to defend his supermarket

that was set afire. Other victims were killed while

inside stores that were being looted. 

"President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has sent federal police and border patrol officers to hot spots where people have armed themselves in fear of mobs. The unrest takes place as Argentina prepares to celebrate the 30th anniversary

of the country's return to democracy."

In some provinces, officials have fired police officers in 

retaliation. Others are capitulating, guaranteeing police 

a minimum monthly salary of around $1,300. And in some 

cases, that's only the start of the problems.

"Río Negro Governor Alberto Weretilneck settled his 

province's 21-hour police strike by raising base salaries to 

8,500 pesos [around $1,360]," reports the Buenos Aires Herald, 

"only to see health and sanitation workers walk off the job 

yesterday,  demanding their own raises."

We'll remind you that it's summertime down in Argentina. 

The Herald reports that the summer heat, coupled with power 

outages, have also played a role in the unrest.