Protesters, police clash in Athens demonstration
Greek workers and youth took to the streets of Athens once again on Wednesday to protest a new round of austerity measures to be introduced by the social-democratic (PASOK) government of Prime Minister George Papandreou. The demonstration was accompanied by the second general strike to be held this year and the tenth since the outbreak of the international finance crisis in 2008.
The event expressed both the overwhelming popular hostility to Papandreou’s cuts, and growing mistrust of the policies of the Greek unions and their political supporters. Controlled by PASOK, the main union federations have cynically called one-day strikes to let off steam, while they negotiated the cuts with Papandreou.