Buenos Aires - Several Argentine towns experienced a
shortage of fuel, dairy products, beef and fresh produce on Friday
due to road blockades set up by truck drivers protesting a farmers'
strike.
The farmers have been protesting new agricultural tarriffs, and
their move sparked protests by drivers suffering from a lack of
products to transport.
Farmers' leaders met on Friday to discuss ending their protest
earlier than its planned Sunday conclusion in order to avoid an
escalation of the conflict, Argentine media reported.
A group of Asian supermarket operators, who control a broad range
of medium-sized shops, reported that national staple beef,
vegetables, fruit and milk are not being delivered to shops, and
warned that there could be no supply at all after the weekend.
Large supermarket chains opted to restrict the quantity of
products sold, given the difficulty of refilling their shelves.
No diesel or petrol were being delivered to petrol stations in
Buenos Aires province outside the immediate Buenos Aires metropolitan
area.
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner strongly
criticized farmers for their protest that has been going on since
March.
'I wonder what worker, what trader, what businessman however large
can stop working for 90 days. Only one that has accumulated great
wealth, great riches. The rest have to get out to work,' she said.
Agricultural leaders called the comments a provocation, and
stressed that they are still working and are only blocking some forms
of activity.
The crisis in Argentina's powerful farming sector has been brewing
since March, when an increase in export tariffs for soybeans and
sunflower went into effect, tying tariffs to international market
prices.
The average tariff was increased from 35 to 41 per cent and would
apply to almost all of the surplus if the price for soybeans were to
rise above 600 dollars a tonne, although the government has since
modified this to set a tax ceiling.
The positions of the government and agricultural producers have
remained far apart.
In March, a complete blockade of agricultural production caused
severe food shortages in large urban areas and provoked traffic
problems. In April, farmers opted to block the export of cereal and
other key products, like soybeans.
In their third protest, farmers again took to the roads last week.
Although their leaders asked that they not disturb traffic, the
passage of trucks carrying agricultural produce was blocked in some
areas.
In a strike that was set to end Monday but was prolonged until the
end of the week, farmers were blocking the sale of cereal and oil-
based crops for export. They however allowed the sale of cattle for
meat beginning on Tuesday, to prevent shortages in the internal
market.
Cereal transport trucks have since Monday blockaded roads in the
central provinces of Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Cordoba and Entre Rios -
in the so-called Wet Pampa - amid great tension with farmers
protesting on the side of roads.
Drivers were protesting the lack of work in recent months.
However, many observers interpreted their move as a government-
sponsored measure. The truck-drivers' union is led by Pablo Moyano,
the son of the pro-Kirchner General Workers' Union (CGT) Hugo Moyano.
Two million tonnes of cereal are currently awaiting shipment in
Santa Fe's ports. Some 27 ships are waiting to be loaded, Argentine
media reported.
Further, some 97 per cent of the soybean crop - the main crop
cultivated by Argentine farmers, with some 48 million tonnes expected
this year - has been harvested. Almost all of it is destined for
export markets, but producers were holding on to their produce in the
face of the conflict.
© DPA 2008
USA
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