MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Kirchner ousts Agriculture minister before meeting farmers

New Agriculture and Livestock Secretary Dr. Javier de Urquiza

Argentine president Nestor Kirchner named a new Agriculture and Livestock Secretary Wednesday, a day before a crucial meeting with farmers associations that have been bitterly complaining about the administration's current camp policies.

Miguel Campos who never managed to establish a dialogue with the farmers and was the target of internal intrigues, according to the Argentine press, was replaced by his Deputy, Javier de Urquiza who is described as a "K" man. "Campos exit responds to the government's need to sit and talk with farmers unions in a better atmosphere", said Cabinet Chief Alberto Fernandez. "This must be interpreted as a friendly signal towards farmers who always clashed with Campos" said an Argentine government source pointing out that farmer' organizations had long anticipated that no dialogue was possible with Campos because of "irreconcilable discrepancies". Apparently Campos presented his letter of resignation to Economy minister Felisa Miceli and then to cabinet chief Alberto Fernandez who talked about it with President Kirchner. According to the Argentine press Campos also has on going differences with Planning Minister Julio De Vido who is one of Kirchner's five closest men and a supporter of Deputy De Urquiza. However other sources stressed that the ousting of Campos must not be interpreted as a "sign of weakness" but rather the admission of a "fait accompli" situation since the former minister had been accused by the meat industry of "favoritism" to "friendly" abattoirs in the distribution of much coveted Hilton beef quotas. Besides major Agriculture decisions in the last few weeks had been taken at the Casa Rosada with the presence of Deputy Secretary De Urquiza. But Campos will remain in the administration working for the Investments Development Agency, an area which reports directly to cabinet chief Fernandez. The news was well received by farmers associations. "This is the end of a very complicated period between farmers and the government", said Mario Llambias president of the Argentine Rural Confederations, which last year organized two camp strikes to protest current policies. "Campos was never present in the latest meetings. He had been out of role of Secretary for some time now. De Urquiza is an official who has been willing to talk with farmers and try to solve problems", added Llambias. With a boom in agriculture commodities international prices and an undervalued Argentine currency, the Kirchner administration has been forced to limit exports, slap higher taxes and impose "reference prices" in an attempt to keep inflation under control, particularly since next October the Kirchner family faces a presidential election. These measures have irritated farmers who feel they are carrying the burden of the current Argentine economic boom.