General strike brings Argentine capital to standstill

A general strike sparked by a proposed tax on wages turned Argentina's capital Buenos Aires into a ghost town on Tuesday.

Streets were empty as banks and shops remained shut and public transportation systems stopped running, including buses, the subway and even most taxis.

"Getting to work was quite complicated," office worker Lucia Martin said.

"I had to first walk 15 blocks from my house, then wait patiently to get a taxi," said Martin, who works for a multinational firm that makes computer programs in the city's southern Puerto Madero district.

Instead of taking train and then a minibus, as she usually does, Martin walked and waited for one of the few taxis still circulating.

Car rental agencies, including those that rent cars with drivers, ran out of cars or drivers.

"All of our drivers live in the province and couldn't get past the picket lines," said an employee at one such agency located in the city's Belgrano district.

Workers are already frustrated by high inflation and a lack of benefits, and some 35 percent of the labor force working in the underground economy reject the recent proposal.

One resident, however, seemed happy with the outcome.

"There's nobody around, it's so peaceful to travel like this through Buenos Aires," said Matias Guida as he rode his bike in lanes normally reserved for buses.

According to Argentine daily La Nacion, President Cristina Fernandez, speaking at an official event, described the work stoppage as a "political" maneuver by her opponents, saying it was a "strike by the opposition."

On Monday, Economy Minister Axel Kicillof said the tax would only affect "10 to 15 percent" of transportation workers, those earning more than 15,000 pesos (1,700 U.S. dollars) a month, and questioned why other unions would "show solidarity with those earning more."

Joining the general strike were unions representing restaurant workers, truck drivers, bank and shop employees, and gas station attendants, leading to long lines at filling stations.

The nationwide strike is expected to cost some 2.119 billion pesos (238 million U.S. dollars) in losses to the commercial sector, according to the Argentine Confederation of Medium-Size Companies (CAME). Endi