MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Mrs Kirchner defends ‘imports’ restrictions’; blames the media for the coverage

‘We are not allowed to export chicken to Uruguay’, revealed the Argentine president

President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner once again rejected that Argentina has adopted restrictions on imports, although she admitted “there isn't a country in the world that, through fiscal promotions or tariffs, doesn't have those mechanisms” of barriers for the entry of foreign products.

Mrs. Kirchner made the statements late Wednesday at the Metal Manufacturer's Association (ADIMIRA) rally held during the closing of the Metallurgic Congress of the Bicentenary when she also accused the media for its coverage on the issue.

She complained the Argentine media treats the subject overestimating import obstacles that Argentina imposes, but not those it receives from foreign countries.

”(The press) acts against the interests of its own country. We, for example, are not allowed to export chicken to Uruguay, no one knew about that. The journalist that asked me in Uruguay (of Argentine barriers) didn't know either“ Mrs. Kirchner said.

On another note, she mentioned that ”during the crisis, we have re-opened the debt-swap to demonstrate that what happened to us in 2001 was not because we behaved badly, or because we didn't want to work, or because we were scammers, but because we had been scammed during many years, and thanks to those scams Argentina went into default.“

”This month, we've had a record collection. Sometimes, we fight against our own expectations, which isn't the fault of businessmen. Things aren't as bad as they seem. One of the main problems is the auto-boycott, which we definitely have to get rid of,” CFK insisted.