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Argentine farm strike a blow to exports
Buenos Aires (UPI) Aug 28, 2009 A new farm strike looms over Argentina and is poised to deliver another blow to the country's fragile economy and pose new challenges to the presidency of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. A previous strike in June damaged the president's parliamentary majority and cut away at her approval ratings. Industry sources said the new strike, set to start at midnight Friday and last a week, could also damage Argentina's exports in the long term and benefit American exporters of soy and other agricultural produce. "It's touch-and-go at the moment," a media source who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of his position told United Press International. "So many people are mad at Cristina Kirchner after the last strike that no one knows which way this will go." The strike is the latest turn in a long-running dispute between Argentina's rural associations and the government. It follows heated exchanges over a law imposing export taxes on soybeans, sunflower, wheat, corn, beef and dairy produce. The feud has festered since 2006 and led to eight strikes -- three of them this year. Rural representatives said the strikes were being backed by four farm organizations with a total following of 290,000 farmers. Strike leaders vowed to shut down all export operations, freeze logistics and bring Argentina's grain trade and dairy and meat exports to a halt. Officials dismissed the threat but were careful to keep urging dialogue. Business analysts said the strike's impact now depends on farmers' response. The export tax is not a new bone of contention, but it was tolerated by the farmers when their trade flourished and revenue swelled until 2006. But as trade deteriorated and income fell, the farmers' representations for tax relief gained momentum and led to strikes and riots. Frustrated by lack of positive response, farmers and their supporters in the electorate retaliated by voting Fernandez' deputies out of Congress in the June mid-term elections, wiping out her majority and weakening the government further. Undeterred, the president and her husband, former President Nestor Kirchner, tried to rush through new legislation to enforce the taxes, setting off a new wave of protests. Analysts said the weeklong strike would likely be absorbed by Argentina's struggling economy, but it could still turn buyers away from Argentina to alternative suppliers, including the United States. Argentina's soybean crop has already been diminished by a severe drought. That led to major importers, including China, turning to the United States. With the next soybean harvest about six months away, the coming months could be critical and disruption in farm activities could deal another blow to Argentina's agriculture, dairy and meat exports, analysts said. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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