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Guatemalans Protest
Privatization
Thousands of Guatemalans are
taking part in a three-mile
march on Friday to protest
privatization, insecurity and US
anti-immigrant policy.
A main objective of the march,
staged from the Obelisk to the
Congress of the Republic, is to
reject a privatization-oriented
package of reforms presented by
the Ministry of Education, said
leader of Unidad de Accion
Sindical y Popular (UASP) Nery
Barrios.
According to the Guatemalan
Government, the plan seeks
higher-quality education.
However, leaders of the National
Teachers Assembly say the
neoliberal plan has not been
approved by teachers.
Demonstrators are demanding the
resignation of Education
Minister Maria del Carmen Aceña,
as well as a larger budget for
the sector.
Better life and working
conditions, security guarantees
and an end to the wave of
violence which claimed more than
5,000 lives last year, are also
among the protesters´ demands.
On their way to Parliament,
representatives of popular,
social sectors will stop at the
US Embassy to give US officials
a document to protest the US
decision to build a wall in
order to curb immigration.
Union leaders have denounced the
said policy as it will affect
Guatemala, where one-third of
the population lives on
remittances sent by more than
1.10 million Guatemalans living
in the US.
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