Angry Protesters Swarm Kirchner´s Sister

Striking teachers and public workers tossed eggs and flour at President Nestor Kirchner`s sister on Saturday, jostling the Cabinet minister as she visited the president`s home province of Santa Cruz.

Alicia Kirchner, Argentina`s minister for social development, was not seriously hurt during the brief fracas outside a restaurant in Rio Gallegos, some 1,675 miles south of Buenos Aires, authorities said.

TV newscasts showed angry protesters pulling the woman`s hair, throwing flour on her head and trying to kick her before she could be whisked away from a protest by about 400 demonstrators in the provincial capital.

It was the latest incident marring attempts by the president and his Santa Cruz allies to quell more than a month of near daily protests by teachers and municipal workers demanding higher wages.

The attack came two days after Santa Cruz Gov. Carlos Sancho resigned in a bid to end a political crisis in Kirchner`s Patagonian province. Sancho bowed out in the wake of clash between riot police and protesters on Wednesday that left 12 people injured, none seriously.

The Santa Cruz protests have been some of the strongest nationwide by teachers, government workers and others seeking wage increases. Salaries have yet to recover from devaluation during Argentina`s 2002 economic crisis.