The closure of an important stretch of the central Balboa Avenue in the capital, in the vicinity of the Children’s Hospital, caused repression by the police who fired tear gas, while the workers responded with stones and other objects, reported Prensa Latina.

So far there are also blockades in key arteries such as Ricardo J. Alfaro, Vía Centenario, Domingo Díaz and Río Hato avenues, also in this city.

For this afternoon, the Pueblo Unido por la Vida Alliance called for a concentration in front of the National Assembly (parliament) to demand the withdrawal of the initiative promoted by the Government to privatize the CSS, raise the retirement age and hand over the resources of the public entity to the banks and pension administrators, according to the collectives.

The general secretary of the National Confederation of Independent Union Unity (Conusi), Marco Andrade, indicated that the Legislative refuses to listen to the proposals of the popular movements to guarantee decent pensions and quality medical assistance.

The initiative promoted by the Government and to be analyzed by the plenary of 71 deputies contains reforms to the institution that takes care of retirees, but based on the privatization of its services and system of individual accounts that will only benefit the banks and pension management companies, he added.

Last week, the general secretary of the Association of Physicians, Dentists and related professionals of the CSS, Fernando Castañeda, announced that this union will also oppose the regulation, supported by the deputies of the Health Commission who ignored the proposals of the different unions in the first debate and citizen consultations.

Should such an evil bill be approved, taking advantage of the days prior to the carnival, when there is some relaxation, Castañeda urged the patients to keep their appointments and to have the necessary medicines at hand, in case this group starts a national strike.

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