Property damage and business interruption

10.6, transport strike

International: Spanish truckers began an indefinite strike over soaring fuel prices, threatening to bring the country to a standstill. In Latin America, Colombian truckers joined demonstrations by transporters from Europe to Asia who were demanding help in managing costs as world oil prices soar to record highs. Colombia’s president Alvaro Uribe planned to meet with the striking drivers to work out an agreement to end the protest. In Spain tens of thousands of lorry drivers began a protest that saw Spain’s ports and borders blockaded in a bid to disrupt supply routes. More than 90,000 drivers were summoned to take part in the strike after the union rejected a package of measures put together by the Ministry of Development to help deal with record fuel prices which have risen 20% over the last year. Hauliers warned that with almost no movement of trucks it would be a matter of days before petrol stations ran dry and supermarket shelves emptied. The transport strike comes as the fishermen strike across Spain protesting fuel costs entered a second week. The stoppages are part of Europe-wide protests over the impact of the surge in the price of oil which reached a record of over $139 a barrel.