GONZALEZ PLEDGES FIRM ANTI-INFLATION BATTLE
Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez, facing
an increasingly violent wave of labour unrest, has told
Spaniards he is determined to bring down inflation even if it
means slower growth and fewer votes for his Socialist Party.
    In a 50-minute television interview broadcast live,
Gonzalez criticized widespread protests which have blown up
less than a year after he won a resounding general election
victory.
    "It seems so important to us that sometimes I ask myself
'Why don't they understand when I explain this?'" Gonzalez said
of the anti-inflation strategy designed to modernise Spain and
make its economy competitive within the European Community.
    Gonzalez said the illegal work-to-rule at the airline was
grounding more and more planes and producing a backlog of
maintenance work which would not be cleared until the summer.
    "The comfortable thing to do would be to give in and have no
problems," the 44-year-old prime minister said, adding that
nothing could justify the use of violence in a democracy.
    Gonzalez said he still believed it was possible to reduce
inflation to five pct this year from the current rate of 6.3
pct, even though other government officials have admitted the
target may now be beyond reach.
 Reuter
