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Protests against proposed pension changes in France took an increasingly radical turn Tuesday as masked youths clashed with police and set fires in cities across the country. Meanwhile, hundreds of flights were canceled, long lines formed at gas stations, and train service in many regions was cut in half.
President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged to crack down on "troublemakers," according to the Associated Press, raising the possibility of more confrontations with young rioters after a week of disruptive but largely nonviolent demonstrations.
With no pension at stake, the students taking part in the protests are a worrisome wild card in the eyes of the government and a recent addition to an intensifying movement against Sarkozy's promise to help reduce the state deficit by forcing workers to legally retire at 62, instead of 60.
Students recently have blocked entrances to their schools with large objects, and on Monday some youths clashed with riot police and burned cars. The violence was blamed on youths who were not part of the student protest.
In Paris on Tuesday, huge crowds started marching from the Place d'Italie in the south toward the gilded-domed Invalides, where Napoleon is buried. The protest appeared peaceful, but law-enforcement officials were bracing for possible confrontations with youth. Police estimated the crowd at 60,000, down from 65,000 at a similar march last week.
At a high school in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, closed because of earlier violence, a few hundred youths started throwing stones from a bridge at nearly as many police, who responded with tear gas and barricaded the area. It was not immediately clear if there were injuries or arrests.
At the Place de la Republique in eastern Paris on Tuesday, young people pelted riot police with projectiles, while youth in the central city of Lyon torched garbage cans and cars as police riposted with clouds of tear gas.
It was the sixth national day of demonstrations over the planned pension reform since early September. Union leaders have vowed to keep up pressure until the government scraps the unpopular plan and opens negotiations.
Amid Tuesday's rising unrest, a larger swath of the population was already feeling the effects of nearly a week of continuous strikes by workers, especially in the energy sector, who were joined early Monday by truck drivers, who blocked major roads around France, driving at a snail's pace in "escargot operations."
Despite government assurances, fears of gasoline shortages pushed drivers to fill up their tanks, causing many of France's gas stations to run dry temporarily. As of Tuesday, more than 1,000 gas stations were shuttered nationwide. With striking workers blocking roads, trains, gasoline depots and refineries, there could be a long delay before hard-hit gas stations are able to function normally.
"The most serious concern is fuel," said Richard Laisne, 58, a Paris taxi driver. "Because if there's a fuel problem, there's no work for me."
Government leaders continue to assure the public that there was no reason to fear a shortage, and Prime Minister Francois Fillon said Sunday, "I won't let our country be blocked."
A walkout by air traffic controllers Tuesday was expected to last one day, with flights expected to return to normal on Wednesday. France's DGAC civil aviation authority said Tuesday that up to half of the flights out of Paris' Orly airport would be scrapped, and 30% of flights out of other French airports, including the country's largest, Charles de Gaulle, serving Paris, would be canceled.
Most cancellations were on short- and medium-haul domestic and inter-European flights.
At the airport in the Atlantic city of Bordeaux, scores of protesters blocked the entrance for several hours Tuesday morning.
The government on Monday advised airlines to reduce the number of flights they had planned to Paris and to arrive with their fuel tanks as full as possible, despite insisting there was no risk of fuel shortages at France's major airports.
A crisis unit was created Monday by the Interior Ministry, and key gasoline depots and pipelines were unblocked by authorities, who said they did not use force. Days after certain depots were opened, others were blocked by new protesters Monday. Workers at all of France's 12 oil refineries were on strike too.
The Senate is expected to pass the retirement overhaul bill by Thursday or Friday, but protesters say they will continue striking.
"It's a political success. Everyone is involved," said Josiane Jousset, 62, of the strikes. "The government got a good slap in the face."
Media coverage on Monday of the student protests showed images of burned cars, shattered storefront windows and glass walls at bus stations in various towns across France, and were reminiscent of 2005 riots in the country's low-income suburbs.
In the center of Paris, participants said their intentions were peaceful.
"We are pacifists. We just want to be heard," said Hugo Behar, 16.
Though the Sarkozy government contends that the French need to work longer in order to finance future pensions, Hugo said the reform would mean fewer jobs for younger people, because aging employees wouldn't be able to leave their posts open for the next generation. "I don't want to be out of work at 30," he said.
Lauter is a special correspondent.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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