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SV Montevideo street scene
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SV PAN Queue of people at fish store (3 shots)
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SV Cattle in field (3 shots)
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CU ZOOM OUT chicken being weighed
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SV Fisherman on Montevideo beach (4 shots)
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TV Fishing net PAN UP TO fisherman along pier (2 shots)
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LV Harbour PAN TO fish stall
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CU Fish
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SV ZOOM OUT fish on display
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Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: Owners of more than 9,000 bars, food shops and restaurants in Uruguay closed for 24-hours on Wednesday (9 August) to back their demands for bigger profit margins and to protest against the shortages of goods, especially beef.

For restaurant owners, and indeed, the general population, the shortage of beef has been a hardship. It is the result of a four month government ban, imposed last month, on domestic consumption ??? in order to boost beef exports, thus helping to cure a chronic balance of payments problem.

As a result of the beef ban, the sea has taken on new meaning for Montevideo. although the capital is a major port and beach resort, the population had never been known as big eaters of sea food. Now with the butcher shops empty, it is not uncommon to see queues in front of the city's few fish shops.

The problem is common to several other South American countries, with Argentina, Colombia, Chile and Peru also imposing at least partial beef bans.