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Students riot over pension June 9, 2005 PANAMA CITY: At least 20 people were injured and about 400 were arrested in violent clashes between demonstrators and police, in protests over a proposed pension reform plan. The unrest occurred in the capital and in four provinces. Union leader Genaro Lopez said police had "carried out the arbitrary arrests of hundreds of workers when they were protesting peacefully". In Chiriqui province, 500km west of the capital, five people were injured, including two police officers. Justice Minister Hector Aleman said that "a radical group" of protesters was seeking to destabilise the country. Aleman said that overnight Monday authorities frustrated an attempt to sabotage a power station in Chiriqui province. Protests have shaken the Central American country since late May. President Martin Torrijos has said the state-run pension system is $US4 billion ($5.2 billion) in the red and reform is needed to keep it from going bankrupt by 2012. But numerous social groups and unions have opposed the reforms, which would increase worker contributions to the pension fund and increase the retirement age from 57 to 62 for women and 62 to 65 for men over a period of 10 years. The Daily Telegraph This report was published at www.dailytelegraph.com.au |
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