Tight security for Colombia strike

Armed police are prepared for any violence

Security forces are on full alert in Colombia where 700,000 public sector employees and transport workers are staging a 24-hour national strike.

The unions are protesting against government austerity measures, and want a freeze on petrol prices and an end to the privatisation of Colombia's state banks.

Army and police units have set up checkpoints in the main cities to prevent any outbreaks of violence.

The authorities have also restricted the carrying of weapons and have banned the sale of alcohol.

This strike is a protest strike and a political act... we're no longer prepared to carry the weight of the rich on our shoulders

Wilson Borja, union leader

The Colombian Interior Minister, Humberto de la Calle Lombana, told the BBC that the government respected the rights of employees to strike, but the trade unions should also respect the rights of people who wanted to work.

Indian and peasant protesters have reportedly blockaded a road through the central coffee-growing region, and suspected Marxist rebels bombed a high voltage power pylon in Medellin.

Disruption

Local media said demonstrators had also blocked a main route from Narino province into neighbouring Ecuador, and tried to halt traffic on a highway near the southwestern city of Cali.

Throughout Colombia, there have been reports of widespread disruption to public transport.

In districts of Bogota, the lack of transport forced many people to improvise, piling in pick-up trucks and cycling or walking to get to work.

However, despite these sporadic incidents, protesters have seemingly failed to disrupt key sectors of the economy.

Most public schools were closed for the day, but production at Colombia's oil fields and refineries was reported to be running normally, as were telephone services.

Despite the Medellin pylon bomb, the threat from Marxist rebel factions to mount a series of co-ordinated attacks has also seemingly failed to emerge.

Unpopular policies

It was the sixth strike against President Andres Pastrana's unpopular economic policies, which some critics blame for creating the highest unemployment rate in Latin America.

Andres Pastrana: Economic policies unpopular

The strike follows the announcement by Colombia's new Finance Minister Juan Manuel Santos, that he would introduce a series of belt-tightening measures.

The minister has pledged a 2001 budget of "sweat and tears", cut 5,000 public-sector jobs and frozen wage increases below the rate of inflation.

However Colombian unions believe the policy is designed to soften the impact of recent economic problems on the country's middle class.

"This strike is a protest strike and a political act designed to send the message to the government that we're no longer prepared to carry the weight of the rich on our shoulders," said the leader of the main public sector union, Wilson Borja.

Economic slump

Colombia's traditionally buoyant economy shrank 4.5% last year, its worst performance since records began in 1905.

The economy grew in the first quarter this year, but this was partly due to public spending cuts imposed following a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The loan was intended to help Colombia introduce free market reforms and modernise its economy.

But unions say that Colombia's unemployment rate of 20.4% - the highest in Latin America - is proof that the government's economic strategy is not working.