The Puerto Rican general strike of 1998 began as a strike of Puerto Rico Telephone Company workers to protest a government privatization plan. Three weeks later, an estimated 500,000 people joined a two-day general strike, bringing commerce and travel in Puerto Rico to a standstill. Protests and pickets were mostly peaceful, but in the week before the general strike some infrastructure elements were sabotaged, and two bombs were detonated. The strike failed to stop the privatization plan, and in July a consortium led by GTE bought the PRTC for US$1.9 billion.