MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine farmers on strike promise further actions

An organization representing 100.000 Argentine farmers is on strike until next Tuesday when “if conditions persist”, the industrial action could be extended warned on Sunday leaders of protest rallies in several cattle and cereal belts towns.

The Argentine Rural Confederations CRA is demanding an end to export restrictions to beef, dairy produce and several crops imposed by the administration of President Nestor Kirchner and which are having a negative price impact for farmers.

Farmers also bitterly criticized the government "bullying tactics" of last Friday which left over 10.000 head of cattle unsold in Buenos Aires main livestock market in Liniers.

Apparently government officials contacted or telephoned cattle brokers in Liniers suggesting they should not auction on Friday, a combined operation with the powerful meat packing industry.

"I was an unprecedented bullying, a clear mafia type tactic", said Nestor Roulet, one of CRA vice presidents. "The government uses fear and the cheque book to impose its will; but in our case they've lost: the strike is on and Friday's intimidation convinced all farmers to join us".

The strike consists in suspending all farm supplies thus theoretically leaving the market with insufficient dairy produce, beef and cereals.

The Kirchner administration has imposed export restrictions on many food items in an attempt to contain domestic inflation. However farmers are complaining that costs keep increasing and revenue decreasing because of additional taxes or simply temporarily export bans.

Over the weekend the protest marches took place mainly in the provinces of Cordoba and Santa Fe, while this Monday and Tuesday they are scheduled for La Pampa, Buenos Aires and Entre Rios.

"We want the government to respect us. What happened on Friday backfired because it has galvanized the strike action", insisted Mario Llambias CRA president.

"This is only the beginning", promised vice president Roulet.

However farmers were cautious and before beginning the protest marches in the different towns they distributed pamphlets explaining why the strike with the logo, "If the camp grows, we all grow". In many local businesses shopkeepers put up notices pledging support for the strike and the farmers.

Nevertheless some farmers are not entirely certain of the moment chosen for the strike and protests since following the "World Cup flop, the atmosphere has cooled considerably". "All this should have been organized in the months leading to the World Cup, April, May, when the impact would have been far greater" argued Diego Gibelli who also remarked that farmers must organize a public relations campaign to convince people in the cities "that we are not responsible for the hike in prices". "In Argentina the so called "cattle oligarchy" of last century no longer exists, it belongs to the past. But the government likes to play that tune?with certain success".

Luciano Miguens president of the all powerful Argentine Rural Society which annually organizes the Palermo livestock show was more cautious.

"It's too early to assess the success of the strike. However the ill feeling in the camp is very much understandable because the situation is strangling farmers' economies. There's also a very strong feeling that the government and the media refuse to acknowledge the camp's contribution to the country and the economy", warned Mr. Miguens and "this is not positive or constructive".