SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) -- Three protesters died Thursday from gunshot wounds suffered in clashes with security forces, officials said on the second day of a national strike that shut down business across the Dominican Republic.

The strike, to protest the worst economic crisis in decades, comes as U.S. authorities struggle to stem an exodus of Dominicans fleeing poverty in rickety boats. The U.S. Border Patrol said it detained 36 Dominicans early Thursday off Puerto Rico, a nearby U.S. Caribbean territory. This month alone, the U.S. Coast Guard said it has intercepted more than 1,000 Dominicans at sea, compared with 190 a year ago.

President Hipolito Mejia pleaded for calm as he pushes for a second term despite popular disapproval of his handling of the crisis, and his own party's lukewarm reception of his bid for re-election.

Mejia refused to meet strike leaders Thursday and condemned the 48-hour shutdown, saying it would cost the beleaguered economy 3 billion Dominican pesos ($60 million).

"With a strike, we all lose" Mejia told reporters.

Police and soldiers armed with M-16 assault rifles patrolled poor neighborhoods of Santo Domingo, the capital, and other major cities. Many soldiers had just returned from Iraq and still wore international peacekeeping patches on their uniforms.

Strike organizers said four men were killed and 27 were injured in confrontations Wednesday and Thursday. In many cities, police fired warning shots to disperse protesters who built flaming barricades in the streets.

Strike co-ordinator Ramon Perez Figuereo said 24-year-old Francisco Antonio Valerio as shot in the chest and died in a hospital Wednesday night in Santiago, 80 miles (154 kilometers) north of Santo Domingo.

Figuereo said he didn't yet have identities of others who died from gunshot wounds on Thursday. One died in Santo Domingo, another in La Romana, 62 miles (100 kilometers) east of Santo Domingo, and the fourth in Nagua, 112 miles (180 kilometers) northeast of Santo Domingo, he said.

Police spokesman Col. Ramon Francisco Rodriguez Sanchez confirmed four deaths and said police were investigating the circumstances.

Rodriguez said two military officers also had been injured.

A similar one-day strike in November left six dead in clashes with police.

On Thursday, businesses were again shut, children stayed home from school and public buses sat idle.

"If he wanted to he (Mejia) could help us," said Sucre Rodriguez, a 45-year-old restaurant owner who decided to keep his doors closed. "But he doesn't want to listen."

Some said the situation is more complicated.

"If I don't work I can't live," said Arcena Pina, who delivers food and groceries.

Over the past year, inflation has topped 42 percent, the peso has lost more than half its value and unemployment has topped 16 percent.

Mejia has said repeatedly that the government soon will reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund, to inject sorely needed dollars into the economy.

But some Dominicans aren't willing to wait.

On Wednesday, the Dominican Navy recovered the body of a woman who drowned when the U.S.-bound boat she was in capsized. Sixteen other people were rescued.

"We presume people are leaving for economic reasons," said U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Patricia Hawkins.

Also at stake is the political future of a country that only 10 years ago started emerging from decades of military and civilian dictatorship.

Mejia's unpopular re-election bid, and charges by his own party members that he rigged voter lists to ensure victory in a Jan. 18 presidential primary, has raised fears of a return to fraudulent balloting.

The European Union has warned it would cut aid if the May 16 presidential election is manipulated, which would lose the country 256 million euros ($324 million) over the next four years.