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00:00Eerily empty streets, deserted train stations and shuttered storefronts.
00:06Buenos Aires was brought to a standstill on Thursday as labor unions called for a 24-hour
00:11strike to protest against austerity measures.
00:15Some 400 flights were cancelled, while schools, banks and service stations remained closed
00:21and the capital's public transportation was reduced to a trickle for some 3 million commuters.
00:27Residents there were left divided by the strike.
00:33People have a right to complain, but they're also hurting everyone else.
00:37Many people want to go to work and obviously they can't get there, so they get a day's
00:41pay deducted.
00:42I think the strike is excessive.
00:48The current situation of workers in Argentina, in transportation and many other sectors is
00:53not ideal.
00:55So I believe that a strong action was necessary.
01:00It was the second strike in five months to protest against Javier Mile's austerity program.
01:06The Argentinian president campaigned on a pledge to reduce the country's deficit to
01:10zero and since his election in November, he's overseen drastic cuts to public spending,
01:16including by slashing crucial subsidies, firing thousands of public servants and devaluating
01:22the peso by 50 percent.
01:25Mile insists his plan is working and has in recent months claimed some victories, including
01:31Argentina's first budget surplus in 16 years.
01:35But critics say these have come at the cost of the working and middle class, with inflation
01:39nearing 300 percent and more than half of the country's population now living in poverty.