MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine farmers back on the roads for six-day protest

Argentine farmers announced on Tuesday they will take to the roads again temporarily suspending grain exports and limiting beef exports to protest scant progress in talks with the government on how to help small- and medium-scale producers who are suffering financially.

But leaders from Argentina's four main farm organizations promised not to blockade roads as they did earlier this year during nearly four months of protests against the government's now-repealed export-tax hike. The protests and blockades led to sporadic food shortages, hurt the economy and caused President Cristina Fernandez's popularity to plunge. Starting Friday, farmers will wage a six-day strike to protest what they say is the government's lack of response to demands including larger subsidies for medium- and small-scale producers, more money for producers living far away from the country's ports and economic relief for thousands of farmers in northern Argentine affected by what they say is the worst drought in 100 years. "There has been no room for discussion" with the government in two months of negotiations, Eduardo Buzzi, leader of the Argentine Agrarian Federation, said during a televised news conference. "In the countryside, things keep getting worse. Additional problems include the government's beef and wheat export restrictions and price regulations, as well as high oil prices and falling commodity prices worldwide, said Buzzi and the head of Argentina's Rural Society, Hugo Biolcati. In a separate televised news conference, Agriculture Secretary Carlos Cheppi called on farmers to call off the strike and said ongoing negotiations had provided concrete solutions. "These protest measures help the country very little given the precarious international (economic) context", he said. "We want to continue the dialogue". The farmers' announcement followed a meeting of the so called liaison committee of Argentina's main four organizations which successfully steered the four-month protest which ended when the Senate voted against an export tax increase, exposing the vulnerability of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner administration. However Argentine press reports indicate that the decision to take back to the roads was not as enthusiastic as the previous protest, apparently two of the organizations were not entirely convinced of the opportunity of the extreme measure but finally opted for unity. Argentina is one of the world's leading exports of soy, corn, wheat, barley and beef.