Argentine Ag Tensions Refuse to Ease
National guardsmen detain a key leader in the rural protest movement.
Compiled by staff
Published: Jun 17, 2008
The soy export tax remains a big issue for producers in Argentina who have been protesting the law for 3 months. Tensions rose higher this week when national guardsmen temporarily detained a key leader in that rural protest movement. That prompted farmers to retaliate by vowing to restore their blockades in protest over a soy export tax.
The detainment of the leader of Entre Rios over the weekend had thousands of supporters taking to the streets, according to wire service reports.
The three-month fight over the sliding-scale tax got more complicated when truckers joined in the fray by blocking roads in a bid to force some compromise between soybean producers and the grains-freight operations.
Farmers had announced an end to their own blockade, which focused solely on grain exports, but transport contractors continued their blockades because many farmers had independently chosen not to market their crops until the soy tax dispute is resolved.
At a time when soybean prices are at an all-time high, world buyers of this key protein crop cannot count on Argentina as a supplier. Instead, they're turning to the United States, which puts further pressure on prices.
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