Argentine farmers to launch week-long strike

Mar 21, 2009, 1:30 GMT

Buenos Aires - Argentina's agricultural producers were to launch a week-long strike starting Saturday to press for lower taxes.

The Argentine Rural Confederation said Friday that it would stop selling grains and livestock, set up roadblocks and thwart exports for a week.

They are protesting the government's refusal to lower taxes on the country's main crop, soya beans, as well as its handling of the crippling drought that has wiped out many farmers.

Similar strikes were held last year following the problems growers faced after a severe drought - the price of their produce in international markets plunged and they complained of a lack of a suitable policy for the agricultural sector on the part of the centre-left government.

The series of strikes started in March last year when the government raised tariffs on agricultural exports. The farmers' protests led to severe shortages in urban centres and caused a serious political crisis for the government.

Experts say the current drought is the worst in 100 years in Argentina.

Demonstrations across the provinces of Buenos Aires and La Pampa have already begun, according to regional farm group Carbap.

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said this week that the government will send 1.77 billion dollars, or 30 per cent of soya bean export-tax revenue, to provincial governments. But the farmers claim this proposal won't solve their problems.