The 11th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO [7]) was held this week in Buenos Aires, marked by internal discord within the venue and angry protests in the streets. Inside, talks collapsed before any new agreement could be reached. Outside, demonstrators from groups including the Left Front [8] and Front of Organizations in Struggle (FOL [9]) clashed with police, resulting in six arrests. The conference also came amid ongoing protests in Buenos Aires against President Mauricio Macri [10]'s proposed legislation that would take money from workers' pensions to close Argentina's fiscal deficit. The bill passed the Senate last month, but the lower-house Chamber of Deputies suspended the vote on Dec. 14 when the floor debate degenerated into shouting matches. Street mobilizations against the package repeatedly turned violent, with riot police massively deployed and tear-gas and rubber bullets used on protesters. Argentina's main trade union alliance, the General Confederation of Labor (CGT [11]), has threatened to call a general strike if the legislation moves ahead. (Reuters [12], AFP [13], La Jornada [14], Mexico, Dec. 15; Reuters [15], La Jornada [16], La Nación [17], Buenos Aires, Dec. 14; Télam [18], TeleSur [19], TeleSur [20], Dec. 13; La Nación [21], Dec. 12; AFP [22], Dec. 11)
