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Argentine farmers suspend strike, reprieve for presidentGUALEGUAYCHU, Argentina (AP)--Argentine farmers April 2 suspended a 21-day national strike over export taxes that had stripped store shelves of produce and meat. The announcement gave President Cristina Fernandez at least a temporary reprieve in what has been the biggest crisis of her new administration. But farmers warned they would renew the strike in a month if the government does not make serious concessions on the increase in soybean taxes from 35 percent to as much as 45 percent, and on new duties for other farm exports. Both measures are aimed at curbing inflation. "We have decided to allow the products to reach markets and the highway blockades are being lifted," said Eduardo Buzzi, a hard-line leader of the Argentine Agrarian Federation. Mario Llambia, a spokesman for Argentina's four big farm groups, said protesters are demanding a serious dialogue with the government. For three weeks, the farmers blocked farm goods from reaching Argentine cities, causing severe shortages of beef and produce. Unmoved goods rotted and supermarket shelves were bare in many regions. Fernandez repeatedly urged the farmers to remove the blockades in almost daily rallies held in the capital, Buenos Aires, before thousands of union truckers and political backers. She offered concessions, including transport subsidies for distant farmers, new credits for dairy farmers and tax rebates for small soybean farmers--but the strikers had refused to back down. Easing of the conflict began April 1 when farmers said they were opening highways in Buenos Aires and La Pampas, two of the biggest farmbelt provinces in the rebellion against increased taxes on soybean and other exports. Many of the farmers said they needed a truce to allow them to harvest their soybeans. Alfredo DeAngelis, a leader of hundreds of strikers north of Argentina's capital, said that while barricades were coming down, farmers are sticking to their central demand that Fernandez rescind the increases she imposed on March 11. DeAngelis told The Associated Press that the taxes "don't allow the rural producers to make a profit." The government instead has offered smaller concessions to benefit at least 62,000 small farmers, including transport subsidies, credits for dairy farmers and tax rebates. The farmers' announcement came a day after Fernandez told a rally of 20,000 supporters that the last widespread food shortages in Argentina--caused by striking farmers in 1976--preceded "our nation's worst tragedy," a reference to the military coup that led to a seven-year dictatorship.
Date: 5/8/08
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