Supermarket looting spreads in Argentina

LOOTERS have ransacked supermarkets in several Argentine cities, causing two deaths and evoking memories of widespread theft and riots that killed dozens during the country's worst economic crisis a decade ago. 

Santa Fe Province security minister Raul Lamberto described the attacks on Friday on stores as simple acts of vandalism and not social protests.
Lamberto said two people were killed by a sharp object and gunfire after attacks early Friday on about 20 supermarkets in the cities of Rosario and Villa Gobernador Galvez. He said 25 people were injured and 130 arrested during the looting about 190 miles (305.71 km) northeast of Buenos Aires.
Closer to the capital, riot police fired rubber bullets to drive off a mob that was trying to break into a supermarket in San Fernando, a town in Buenos Aires province.
A police lieutenant was hit on the head with a crowbar and suffered severe injuries during the clashes in San Fernando, authorities said. Officials said 378 people had been arrested in those confrontations.
Some shops closed in several cities despite the busy Christmas shopping season, worrying that the looting might spread.
The troubles followed a wave of sporadic looting that began on Thursday when dozens of people broke into a supermarket and carried away television sets and other electronics in the Patagonian ski resort of Bariloche. The government responded by deploying 400 military police to that southern city.
The unrest brought back memories of violence during Argentina's economic crisis in 2001, when jobless people stormed supermarkets, shops and kiosks.
Former President Fernando de la Rua resigned on Dec. 20, 2001, after days of protests against his handling of the crisis amid rioting that caused dozens of deaths and injuries.
The National Security Secretariat said this week's looting in at least six Argentine towns was the act of "vandals" instigated by union leaders who oppose President Cristina Fernandez.
With inflation running at about 25 per cent a year, Argentines have sought to change their pesos for dollars, but the government has cracked down on such trades and made it nearly impossible to obtain dollars legally.