Mauricio Bároli
03/05/2020 - 17:56
- Clarín.com
- Rural
Compensations for small and medium-sized soybean producers were not enough to curb the discontent that had been simmering since December, when the brand-new government first raised the retentions to most agricultural exports and a week later became the possibility of increasing up to 3 points plus export duties on grains.
This Thursday, with the publication in the Official Gazette of the increase up to 33% of soybeans, that suspense plot reached the knot and triggered the conflict, driven by the hard core of angry farmers , who in almost three months distilled anger with assemblies and manifestations on the routes,
Beyond that the Liaison Bureau maintained a line of constant dialogue with the Government, from Minister Luis Basterra to another diversity of "friendly" officials, and in those meetings there were many moments of "understanding", for thousands of domestic producers The Government has always been a hostile actor "who does not do his homework to balance the State's accounts and imposes a suffocating fiscal pressure on the agricultural sector alone, which has already contributed US $ 150,000 million since 2002 to combat poverty."
That argument, which crossed provincial boundaries and even producer scales, was never dismantled in these three months, despite the efforts of Basterra and company, as well as the 4 presidents of the Liaison Bureau, which until last moment thoroughly analyzed to what extent they echoed what their represented expressed.
Both Jorge Chemes (CRA), Daniel Pelegrina (Rural Society), Carlos Achetoni (Agrarian Federation) and Carlos Iannizzoto said they disagreed with a new rise in retentions. And they even reflected the general discontent. But as diplomatic heads of the negotiations, at times it seemed that they would be conciliators at any cost.
In fact, after leaving the Ministry of Agriculture last Tuesday, after meeting with Basterra, they pondered some issues they had discussed. But they clarified that they would consult with their bases. Those talks left no room for doubt.
Although the four main leaders acted together, and decided almost simultaneously, the last ones who assumed the pressure of their affiliates were Achetoni and Iannizzotto, the first tempted by the promise of segmentation by scale, and the second, among other reasons for contemplation to many regional economies and the efforts suggested by better financing.
But the message of the bases was so monolithic and overwhelming that finally the four presidents understood that the time had come to assume a position of strength as a whole.