EFE has a detailed report on a fresh round of protests by Argentina’s agricultural sector. It is the ninth such strike since March 2008, when a tax increase on international wheat exports led to months of fierce fighting between President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and the agricultural sector.
In anger, farmers staged nationwide protests that spilled over to Argentina’s major highways, blocking the agricultural goods – primarily wheat and soy – from leaving.
The article mentions that the protests will last one week long and will not have a significant economic impact on the country, according to statements made by Eduardo Buzzi, the head of the Argentine Agrarian Federation, a powerful bloc of farmers.
Instead, the article talks about the strike’s political impact, suggesting that the Campo may be attempting to flex its political muscle ahead, perhaps in anticipation of presidential elections later this year.
The “political impact” is nothing compared to the billion-dollar economic impact the strikes have had over the past few years. With 2011 a pivotal election year, the political impact may yet have economic reach.
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