MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Farmers' conflict: Argentine bishops fear for “social peace”

Argentina's Catholic Church has convened an extraordinary meeting for next Thursday to consider the almost three month long farmers/government conflict which is threatening “social peace”.

The meeting of the Argentine Episcopal Conference, which brings together all the country's bishops under cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, was last convened in January 2002, in the midst of the worst circumstances of the 2001/02 crisis when the Argentine economy melted, the country defaulted on its debt and sent over half the population below the poverty line. According to the Episcopal spokesperson Jorge Oesterheld, the bishops will "consider the confrontation climate and the threats to social peace. Bishops are concerned with social peace and social conflicts", he added. Cardinal Bergoglio is just back from the Vatican where according to church sources during the meeting with Secretary of State and second to the Pope, Tarciso Bertone the current "conflict with farmers was considered". Meantime farmers on Monday organized in different locations of Argentina the two hours strike which in provinces closely linked to agriculture and livestock had a massive support. Eduardo Buzzi from the Agrarian Federation insisted that "the policies implemented by the Kirchners are the main obstacle" to an understanding of camp and taxing policies and recalled that the massive May 25th gathering with over 300.000 people in Rosario should have been "a clear signal for the government". "Current policies only promote inflation, which has become the average Argentine main problem, and helps the concentrated farm groups become larger and richer while small and medium farmers disappear or are ousted from camp", he insisted. Buzzi also promised another massive rally on June 25th but in Alcorta, which became famous in Argentine history as the place where, at the beginning of last century, exploited farm hands and peasant families rebelled against absentee landlords, and is known as the "Alcorta uprising". Meanwhile the four farmers' organizations liaison committee was meeting to discuss whether to continue with the strike and no grains, oil seeds or livestock trading as requested by the growingly furious grass roots or keep to the original plan of lobbying elected officials. In Buenos Aires the Kirchner administration kept to its policy of "dialogue if?farmers" accept the controversial sliding export levies on grains and oilseeds, and said there was not much more to advance "when there's no willingness from the other side to talk". "The export levies debate is over, changes have been implemented" said cabinet chief Alberto Fernandez adding that if a group of people can keep up with a conflict for three months "there's a lot of money around". But a former governor and senator from the province of Santa Fe, one of the epicenters of the current protest, Carlos Reutemann openly supported camp claims during an interview with scathing comments. "The Kirchners fear a political defeat and don't want to back step. They are not willing to yield, which I believe is a mistake, and I would say they are not willing to reach an agreement". Further on he said that one thing is to be early dawn planting in the fields and another "comfortably seated with heating in Puerto Madero" in direct reference to where former president Nestor Kirchner had his office until recently. Finally he said that "35% tax is a very generous contribution to the Treasury", which was the average export tax for grains and oil seeds until March 10 when they were again hiked triggering the conflict. "I'm very happy young farmers have decided to stay at road blocks", he concluded anticipating the continuation of the strike.