By Cesar Illiano BUENOS AIRES, April 9 (Reuters) - Argentine school teachers went on a one-day nationwide strike on Monday after a high school chemistry teacher was killed by police last week during a protest over pay in the southern province of Neuquen. In the capital, Buenos Aires, workers at banks, hospitals, government offices, and public transportation joined the strike for one hour on Monday afternoon. Police in the northern city of Salta fired tear gas at groups of protesters, local media said. Carlos Fuentealba, a 41-year-old teacher, died on Thursday, a day after he was hit in the head by a tear gas cartridge when police broke up a teachers' protest and road block in Neuquen. Protesters blame Neuquen Gov. Jorge Sobisch, who ordered police to break up the road blocks and marches. The death of the teacher has further complicated a bid by Sobisch to run for president in October against popular President Nestor Kirchner. Recent polls showed Sobisch with support in the single digits. "Professor Carlos Fuentealba's assassin has a name. His name is Sobisch, and he must pay. He must go, he must answer for his crimes," Hugo Yasky, president of the national teachers union, said at a rally of striking teachers in Buenos Aires. The protest in Neuquen last week came after many provinces said they do not have enough money to give teachers raises decreed by the central government. Base salaries for Argentine teachers were raised by 24 percent in a February government decree. Inflation last year was close to 10 percent and the base teachers wage was raised to some $334 from $270 a month, which was below the poverty level for a four-person family. "They shot Carlos, but they shot not only him, they shot my entire family, and they also shot all those things he stood for," his widow, Sandra Rodriguez, told reporters.
