FACED with his  first major worker confrontation since he took office President Juan Carlos Varela called an emergency cabinet meeting for Friday July 23 to  analyze  its position on the teachers strike which  has been  extended to  five days.

Varela said that the indefinite strike is completely "unnecessary" and has accused union leaders of not being honest with their members about the government's proposals

Usually meetings are Tuesdays, but , it was scheduled to meet Friday to discuss the 2017 budget.

However, it l instead used the meeting to analyze the teacher strike.

The strike was originally slated for 72 hours, but was extended to indefinite status when the two sides were unable to reach an agreement.

A number of groups have asked that the strike be resolved, including the Chamber of Commerce and the Association of Business Executives reports  La Prensa.

.