Peruvian Unions Plan 2-Day Strike

LIMA, Peru — The Communist-led General Confederation of Workers of Peru, the country’s largest union group, has called for a two-day general strike to oppose the government’s “starvation policies,” the confederation said on Wednesday.

The decision to call the strike, scheduled to begin on July 19, was made Tuesday night by leaders of the confederation, which labor experts say has about 1.5 million members.

A union statement said workers were demanding monthly raises to keep up with an inflation rate that reached 229.7% in the 12 months ending in June.

It demanded strict controls on basic prices, which were increased 62% on Monday, asked for an end to “police repression” against workers’ protests and for the release of hundreds of political prisoners in Peruvian jails.