Argentines protest as tensions mount in farm dispute
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Thousands of Argentines took to the streets on Monday to protest against the government's handling of a tense three-month standoff with farmers over export taxes.
Chanting "Argentina!" as passing drivers honked horns, protesters gathered in several Buenos Aires neighborhoods after a close ally of President Cristina Fernandez accused farmers and political rivals of plotting to topple her administration.
"I'm here for social peace because I want them to stop lying to us," said Ines, 45, in the middle-class district of Caballito as demonstrators waved the blue-and-white national flag and banged pots and pans.
Similar scenes played out in other cities in the South American country, one of the world's top exporters of soy, corn, wheat and beef.
Even though it was a national holiday, farmers in rural areas continued to block roads so that trucks carrying grains could not reach port as the conflict over taxes on soy shipments dragged on.
Violence flared at a highway blockade near the town of Gualeguaychu on Saturday after military police used batons to clear the road and arrested a prominent farm leader.
The unrest led farmers to announce a fresh freeze on grain sales until Wednesday, when pro-government groups plan to rally in front of the presidential palace.
Farm leaders have vowed to stage "a day of protest" the same day, setting the stage for further tension in an increasingly bitter conflict that has eroded Fernandez's popularity and raised fears about an economic slowdown.
Controversial government ally and former official Luis D'Elia said farmers and rival politicians were conspiring to oust the center-left president by weakening the economy.
"We're witnessing an economic coup attempt," D'Elia, who has been involved in several scuffles during the conflict, told a news conference.
Fernandez, who took office six months ago, has also likened the farmers to coup leaders, invoking memories of decades of political instability in the country.
Close to midnight, D'Elia led government supporters who gathered in front of the presidential palace and he played down the street protests.
"The upper classes were the focus of it," he said.
COLLISION COURSE
Argentina's fertile Pampas plains are an important international source of grains and the country accounts for nearly 3 percent of global food exports.
The Argentine economy has roared for six years, partly due to huge Asian and European demand for its top crop soybeans, which accounted for nearly a quarter of export earnings last year.
But the bounty has set farmers on a collision course with Fernandez, who has her support base in poor urban areas, and the prolonged dispute has cast a cloud over robust growth in Latin America's No. 3 economy.
Some recent surveys have shown a slowdown in consumer spending since the conflict erupted.
One of the government's toughest challenges is fighting inflation, which is hitting poor Argentines the hardest. Fernandez defends high export taxes and limits on foreign sales of farm goods as a way to battle rising food prices in a country where one in four people lives in poverty.
The wave of strikes and roadblocks started in mid-March after she raised soy export taxes. She said it would help redistribute wealth, but it was the last straw for farmers.
Farm leaders said on Monday they did not want to fuel the confrontation.
"We're asking for a signal from the president ... as soon as there's a positive signal, we'll lift the strike," Luciano Miguens, president of the Argentine Rural Society, told reporters.
Several rounds of negotiations with the government have failed to reach agreement and officials have refused to make far-reaching changes to the export tax system.
(Additional reporting by Walter Bianchi and Helen Popper; Writing by Helen Popper; Editing by John O'Callaghan)
