Thousands of people are taking to the streets this week in Argentina. Some walked hundreds of miles and are converging in Buenos Aires today to commemorate the uprising that toppled five successive governments in two weeks last December.

Protesters yesterday blocked major highways and streets leading into Buenos Aires. Today, they plan to shut down the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange and the headquarters of major corporations including Microsoft, IBM, Telecom, and Merrill Lynch.

People are protesting the government’s economic program and its capitulation to international investors and institutions like the IMF and World Bank. One quarter of the population is unemployed and half live under the poverty line. Argentina continues to default on its over $150 billion debt.

Guest:

• Gabriela Monteagudo, Argentine human rights activist and puppeteer. She has organized many protests in Argentina this year and also fights to shut down the School of the Americas in Georgia, which trained many of the torturers of the Argentine dictatorship era.