BUENOS AIRES, May 23 (AFP) - Top members of the Argentine Catholic church announced Tuesday that they would join forces with a major labor union here to protest policies by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The anti-IMF protest is a major change for the Argentine Catholic church, traditionally one of the most conservative organizations in the country.
The protest, planned for the May 31, is organized by the Peronist opposition General Labor Confederation (CGT).
The time had come "to say enough to these economic policies, these international money markets that directly affect peoples' development," said Guillermo Garcia Caliendo, head of the the social arm of the Argentine church, on "La Red" radio station Tuesday.
Garcia acknowledged this was the first time the church called for participating in a protest like this.
One of the reasons for joining the protest was to warn the President Fernando de la Rua -- who took office in December -- against "worsening social consequences" if he does not attend to the needs of the country's poorest.
"We arrived at a limit where Argentina and its social movements must take a stand against these economic policies, whose effects we see daily," Garcia explained.
Violent protests against De La Rua's belt-tightening economic policies shook the country at mid-month, resulting in at least one dead and several injured.:
