MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Alberto Fernández warns rural producers they “will not twist” his arm

“Nobody wants to twist anybody's arm,” SRA's Pino replied

Argentine President Alberto Fernández Friday insisted that many of the country's problems stemmed from the reluctance of agriculture exporters to liquidate the over US$ 20 billion they have collected from sales abroad over the past few months, out of speculation regarding the exchange rate between US currency and local pesos.

Fernández said he would rise to inflation and “to those who speculate with the dollar and to those who keep 20 billion dollars” off the official monetary circuit.

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During a ceremony at the Casa Rosada Museum alongside Science Minister Daniel Filmus which was also attended virtually by some 16 provincial governors, the head of state insisted rural producers would not “twist his arm.”

“Argentina continues to grow in a context that poses other challenges: the challenge of facing inflation, of facing those who speculate with the dollar, and the challenge of facing those who keep 20 billion dollars in the countryside and do not liquidate them, hoping for a better profitability, when the country needs it,” Fernández stressed.

“I need all of you mobilized, accompanying an opportunity that we must not squander, that of growing with dignity. Those who want to twist my arm should know that they will not twist it. I know that I count on each and every one of you,” he went on as the “blu” dollar traded at AR$ 350 before falling back to Thursday's AR$ 338.

“I will stand up to the challenges [ahead] and we will overcome them together,” he stressed before underlining the importance of having an industrialized country. Otherwise, “societies are reduced to being producers of primary inputs and lose the potential of industry and work.”

Meanwhile, the yearly Rural Fair going on in Buenos Aires was filled with negative reactions.

Ana Inés Boracchia, a veterinarian dedicated to agriculture and sheep breeding in the province of Buenos Aires, told TN that “more favorable conditions” were needed. “No one can tell another what to do with his money,” she stressed.

“I would ask those who question this if they sell something because someone tells them to. Everyone waits for the moment that suits them best, nobody can force us. We are already paying our taxes, which are going the wrong way,” she went on.

Regarding rumors that a special dollar would be created for the agricultural sector to liquidate its foreign currency, Boracchia said that it was too soon to tell. “Until we do not have accurate information, we cannot give our opinion on anything.”

“They always call us when the decisions have already been made, so let's wait for them to do so,” she elaborated.

Argentine Rural Society (SRA) President Nicolás Pino said Fernández had been “offensive, daring and reckless.” Regarding producers not liquidating their export dollars, he bluntly stressed that “The Executive Branch and the Ministry of Economy are to blame for what we are experiencing.”

Pino also said that “nobody wants to twist anybody's arm.” For the SRA leader, “it is a wrong concept, even offensive that we are treated this way. We are working as we usually work. What is being marketed is what is usually marketed for this time of the year,” he also told TN.

“The Government does not need to disrespect and mistreat the most competitive sector, which works the hardest and invests the most in the country. It is bold for the President to say that we producers are holding back.”

Pino also maintained that “there is a sector of the government that gets carried away by ideology and does not reason.”