Thousands of taxi and truck drivers went on strike to demand lower fuel prices in a challenge to Uruguay's center-left government. The strikers object to a government move to impose a tax on diesel fuel to finance a subsidy on bus fares. About 20,000 truck drivers and 5,000 taxi drivers snarled traffic and ringed the legislature of this small South American country with their vehicles. The nation's main labor federation announced a strike starting Tuesday to oppose the drivers' strike and in "defense of democracy."
See "Uruguayan Taxi, Truck Drivers Strike", Associated Press, The New York Times, October 23, 2006