Buenos Aires - Argentine Chief of Staff Alberto Fernandez
met with pro-government legislators Wednesday to discuss the chances
of approval of a bill that would increase tariffs on farming exports
- an issue that has been at the root of a farmers' strike since
March.
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was to
speak at a pro-government rally later Wednesday in the Plaza de Mayo,
in central Buenos Aires, a day after she decided to send the
controversial tariff increase to Congress.
The rally was to be attended by many governors and mayors, and
the president's speech was to be broadcast live on the country's
television.
Farmers' leaders were evaluating their response to the
latest developments in a crisis that was 99 days old. They complained
that the bill could only be approved or rejected by Congress and
could be debated, but no modifications were to be allowed in the
wording.
Alberto Fernandez called upon farmers to put an end to their
protest.
'It is not possible to persist in this scheme of road blockades
and of preventing the free transit of Argentines, which
generates terrible consequences, like shortages of food and fuel,'
the chief of staff told Argentine radio.
The pro-government camp was worried about securing a majority for
the bill, with pressure mounting on pro-Kirchner legislators -
particularly those representing provinces with intense agricultural
activity - to vote against the bill.
Argentine farmers launched a new strike Sunday, suspending till
Wednesday the sale of grain for export. This is the fourth such
strike in recent months.
The crisis has been brewing since March, when an increase in
export tariffs for soybeans and sunflower went into effect, tying
tariffs to soaring international market prices for food.
The average tariff on soy was increased from 35 to 46 per cent, at
the current prices. The levy was initially intended apply to almost
all of the surplus if the price for soybeans were to rise above 600
dollars a tonne, but the government has since modified
this to set a tax ceiling.
Late Monday many people in Argentine urban areas engaged in so-
called 'cacerolazos' - banging pots and pans - and hooting horns to
demand that the government settle the crisis. The farmers' protest
has been oupled with fuel and food shortages, since trucks cannot
move freely through the country's roads.
Argentina is the third-largest producer of soybeans in the world,
after the United States and Brazil. More than 95 per cent of its
production is exported.
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 in late
May. Although their leaders asked that they not disturb traffic, the
passage of trucks carrying agricultural produce was blocked in some
areas.
Cereal transport trucks have blockaded roads in the
central provinces of Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Cordoba and Entre Rios -
in the so-called Wet Pampa - to protest over the lack of work in
recent months.
USA
Your Talkback on this Story