Protests in Greece Caused by Austerity Measures

On Thursday, tens of thousands of people rallied in Greece to protest austerity measures, which essentially shut down the country's transportation network. Protesters threw stones and bottles at police while shouting they had no peaceful place to demonstrate. The rough austerity measures has angered many people who live in Greece, who is in it's fifth year of recession and the unemployment rate has soared to more than 25%. The anger leads to violent acts. 

Two months have gone by since the protest first started, though the violence itself lasted only about 90 minutes. A 65-year old man died from fainting during the rally. Sources say the death was not related to the violence. About 30,000 people have taken part in the demonstration on Thursday. The rally took place in multiple cities, such as Thessaloniki and Patras. 

Shops closed down on Thursday because of the strike, while hospitals ran on skeleton staffing and the transport was also badly affected. Some of the protesters in the crowd waved flags of Spain and Portugal alongside the flag of Greece to show solidarity with other nations that are also under tough austerity programs. Greece is struggling to get the 20 billion of spending cuts to be able to get enough money for bailout.

Nikusha Beatty

sources:
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/10/18/world/europe/greece-strike-austerity/index.html?hpt=ieu_c2