Argentina’s chief cabinet secretary is ordering an end to police strikes after at least 12 people were killed in looting on streets earlier abandoned by the cops.  The chaos resulted in hundreds of injuries and almost A$100 Million in damage and business losses.

Looting spread to 20 out of 23 provinces as mobs took over streets abandoned by police, who were seeking higher pay.  Some of it was coordinated on social media. 

President Cristina Fernandez blamed the opposition at least in part, noting that some of the looting was conducted not by poor people looking for a way to survive in an economy suffering a ten percent inflation rate, but by groups in expensive trucks moving from location to location.  Argentine cabinet chief Jorge Capitanich has said the violence was an attempt to discredit democratic rule, as the country marks the 30th anniversary of the restoration of democracy.

The trouble began in the city of Cordoba last week.  That city reached its breaking point within 48 hours of cops walking out, and pay was boosted from 50 to 100 percent.  Underpaid police across Argentina took the lesson to heart and it’s been a rough time down Argentina way since then.