Page 12 - AT

A12 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 17 OcTOber 2019
Embattled Argentine farmers eye presidential vote with fear

By LUIS ANDRES HENAO of us cautioned about has
Associated Press become a reality," Sebas-
PERGAMINO, Argentina tian Campo said as he
(AP) — Juan Rossi walks be- herded cows at his farm
tween rows of green wheat on the outskirts of Pergami-
at his farm in one of Argenti- no. He said he is among a
na's most fertile agricultural small minority in this area
regions, worrying about the who don't back Macri, but
future of the farming sector he hasn't decided yet on
that is the main economic whom to vote for.
engine of this country. In recent days, Macri has
When he planted the reached out to farmers,
wheat, he expected con- promising them "more
servative Mauricio Macri technology, more innova-
to be reelected president tion and less taxes" while
of Argentina. Now, farm- praising their contributions
ers like Rossi are bracing at a time of crisis.
for a possible return of the "Our countryside amounts
interventionist policies of to 40 percent of our econo-
Macri's now-favored main my and generates a third of
rival: the presidential ticket jobs for Argentines," Macri
of Alberto Fernández and said Saturday on Twitter.
former President Cristina "We want to propel it so it
Fernández. can create more employ-
Export restrictions imposed ment and opportunities."
during Cristina Fernandez's It's no coincidence that
2007-2015 left-of-center shortly after he took office,
government triggered a re- Macri chose a farm in Per-
volt in 2008 by Argentina's gamino to make one of the
farmers, who are among most important economic
the world's top suppliers of announcements of his pres-
grains. She is now running idency.
as vice president with her In this Oct. 9, 2019 photo, farmer Juan Rossi poses for a picture on his wheat farm, on the outskirts "Pergamino is an icon of
former aide bidding for the of Pergamino, Argentina, where he also grows corn and keeps chickens and peacocks. agriculture in Argentina. It's
presidency in the Oct. 27 Associated Press the equivalent of the corn
national elections. belt in the United States,"
Fears of a return of high ex- vious government. Since become fearful of what the ing. He later told reporters said Agustin Tejeda, chief
port taxes come as agricul- then, it has only been ups policies of this new govern- that the session marked the economic analyst at the
ture seeks to rebound from and downs. ment could be. And on the "beginning of a good, fruit- Buenos Aires Grains Ex-
one of the worst drought in Rossi says improved weath- other hand, there was the ful bond." change. "It's in the heart of
years that badly damaged er gave them some "oxy- impact of the drop in inter- The farming sector is a ma- the most fertile lands and a
crops two seasons ago. gen" for this year's harvest. national prices." jor source of foreign curren- great agricultural tradition."
"Today, we have uncer- But then Macri surprisingly Farmers and ranchers say cy for Argentina and the The city of 105,000 people,
tainty about whether they'll turned in a worse show- they don't want a return to next administration will be located in Buenos Aires
allow us to continue as ing in primary elections restrictions that in 2008 led eager to count on bringing province, is also a hub for
we've been doing so far, than the left-leaning Per- them to block goods from in those reserves to avert a Argentine agribusiness.
or if they're going to put a onist candidate Alberto reaching Argentine cities, debt default and a further Farmers and ranchers drive
spoke in our wheel," Rossi Fernández, causing stocks causing severe shortages deepening of a currency pickup trucks and tractors
said on his farm on the out- to plunge and the peso to of beef and produce. Un- crisis. along dusty roads passing
skirts of the city of Pergami- depreciate even further moved goods rotted and Many Argentines are in- through seemingly endless
no, where he also grows in recession-hit Argentina, supermarket shelves were creasingly frustrated by the flat fields in one the world's
corn and keeps chickens which has been struggling bare in many regions. sputtering economy, ris- top soy exporters and a
and peacocks. "We're in with rapidly rising prices The three-week strike over ing poverty and austerity key producer of corn and
the middle of this fog and and increasing poverty. export taxes became one measures. Some analysts wheat.
no one knows what's going The primary results also co- of the biggest crises of Cris- say that Macri's adminis- "The road that Argentines
to happen." incided with a report by tina Fernández's presiden- tration set overly optimistic have chosen is the road
Rossi was among a group the U.S. Department of Ag- cy. She said the taxes were goals and that a decision of change, of openness,
of jubilant Argentine farm- riculture that lowered esti- aimed at redistributing the by the central bank to hike of free trade," said Jorge
ers who cheered the busi- mates for Argentina's soy riches from the agricultural the inflation target caused Josifovich, an agricultural
ness-friendly Macri when and corn crops based on sector in a country where investors to begin doubt- engineer who owns and
he arrived in their town in weather conditions, said many are poor. ing Macri's commitment to manages farm lands in the
the Pampas grain belt in Esteban Copati, head of Farming leaders have met taming price rises. Macri's area.
2015 to announce that he agricultural forecasts at with Alberto Fernández, government was forced to "Faced with the likelihood
would scrap taxes on ex- the Buenos Aires grains ex- who served as chief of staff strike a record $56 billion of a new (Fernández) gov-
ports of corn and wheat to change. during a portion of Cristina bailout loan with the Inter- ernment, we don't have
jumpstart the economy. "There was a double Fernández's first term as national Monetary Fund any expectations that the
It was a moment of victory whammy," Copati said. president but left in 2008 following a sharp deprecia- road that began in 2015
for Macri, who had recently "On the one side, there was following the conflict. The tion of the peso against the will continue," he said.
taken office, and of hope this change in the politi- two are not related. U.S. dollar last year. "They care very little about
for farmers, who had been cal scenario that changed Farmers said the candidate "After four years of the Mac- farmers. Just as we still see
hobbled by the strict export the intention of growers to asked them to turn the ri government, we realize ghosts in them, they still see
limits imposed by the pre- plant since they started to page at the recent meet- that this model that some us as the enemy."q