Thousands of miners, truck drivers, health workers, and teachers have joined farmers in strikes that have blocked major arteries across Colombia.

Colombia's major cities erupted into violence yesterday as tens of thousands took to the streets in support of the nation's farmers, who have been on strike for eleven days.

Five people were reported killed, including a 15-year-old boy, in clashes with riot police that led President Juan Manuel Santos to announce the mobilization of 50,000 troops to restore calm to the country today.

Colombia's farmers – around 60 percent of the country's population, and the economy's backbone – say they can no longer make a living after years of neglect by the government in which crop prices have fallen, import prices have risen, and trade agreements have opened up the domestic market to large international companies they cannot compete with

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http://news.yahoo.com/colombia-edge-protests-sweep-country-195359293.html