Fuel protests spread around the world

As oil hit a record $139 a barrel, large and small businesses that depend on gasoline and diesel said they can no longer cope with pump prices that have doubled or tripled, with the steepest increases coming in recent months.Several hundred trucks and buses were used in a go-slow protest in Hong Kong, snarling traffic in that major Asian economic center. Drivers were demanding reductions in fuel taxes. Tens of thousands of Spanish drivers did go-slow protests on major roads, knotting traffic near cities such as Madrid and Barcelona as Portuguese drivers have joined. France was also one of the countries where protests over the impact of record oil prices happened. Two protesters were killed Tuesday, one in Spain and one in Portugal, as they attempted to block traffic. One of the striking truck drivers was killed near a Grenada market in southern Spain and the other, a picket, died as he tried to stop a truck on a road north of the Lisbon, in Portugal. The protests in India and Nepal were smaller and more isolated, but also reflected the spreading anger over prices. India increased petrol and diesel prices last week by around 10 percent after the cost of fuel subsidies brought state oil companies close to bankruptcy.Diesel has risen to $2 a liter from $1.47 a year ago in the European Union. Fuel taxes are also seen as the central issue for truckers in Europe, because they account for a large portion of the retail price of fuel. Unleaded gasoline sold for $8.65 a gallon and diesel for $9.62 a gallon Tuesday in Britain, which charges a flat $3.77 a gallon in fuel duty and imposes 17.5 percent consumption tax on the total price.Fishermen have also been on strike since May 30 in protest at rising fuel costs, which have especially hurt Spain's independent or self-employed contractors amid an overall economic slowdown. Spanish fishermen strike, now in its 12th day, showed no sign of breaking. Only a trickle of fish passed through Vigo -- Europe's biggest fishing port -- compared to the 200 tons that is normally traded there every day.GOVERNMENTS ON ALERT Record oil prices force both the European Union and Asian governments to offer help to heavy fuel users such as truck and taxi drivers, fishermen and farmers.In Asia, governments are struggling to prevent rising prices making the burden on the public since it threatens political stability.In South Korea, the government prepared a $10.2 billion aid package designed to cushion the impact of the fuel cost surge, but truck drivers in the country ignored this help and voted on Monday to strike over rising fuel prices.Also Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi pledged 1 billion ringgit ($306.6 million) in extra spending for the politically key state of Sarawak, to shore up support over a jump in fuel costs.Photo: AFP