MEXICO: DEBTORS STAGE BLOODY PROTEST AT GOVERNMENT BUILDING скачать в хорошем качестве

MEXICO: DEBTORS STAGE BLOODY PROTEST AT GOVERNMENT BUILDING

(5 Feb 1998) Spanish/Nat Blood ran in the streets of Mexico City on Wednesday when debtors staged an unusual protest in anger at the banks they owe. A group took blood from their own veins and then smeared it on the premises of a federal government building. The act was in response to Mexico's banking institutions whose borrowers must frequently repay debts or lose everything. The stand off between Mexico's banking institutions and a group of debtors continued on Wednesday. The so-called Barzonistas, citizens who face tough action as a result of overdue repayments on bank loans, have long called for better borrowing terms. Their dispute is with both the banks and the government which they say has been unsympathetic to their plight. On Wednesday they offered their own blood as symbolic payment. Their protest was also against the banks' practice of selling off unpaid loans to debt collectors at a profit. The head of the organisation argued that a point of law had been broken as a result. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) "There is a law that is called Preferential Right, the first point of which states that we have the right to be the first to buy our own (overdrawn) credit accounts. And they are not selling them to us. Not even offering them to us. So we ask that everything is carried out according to our rights, that we debtors have the first option to buy, at the price at which they are selling." SUPER CAPTION: Jose Maria Imaz, National Coordinator of El Barzon A woman administered the syringes while the protestors who gave blood promptly spilled it onto the pavement outside government administration offices. The Barzonistas say the government has not helped resolve the issue. Wednesday's protest cost a few drops of blood. The Barzonistas fear whole livelihoods are at stake. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...