The camp gave a signal of strength, before the meeting this Friday with the Minister of the Economy, Sergio Massa, at the Castelar headquarters of INTA.
The Liaison Table received the invitation mid-morning this Thursday, met immediately after noon, for several hours, and at five in the afternoon, the 4 presidents of the rural entities held a press conference on the sidewalk, in front of the Buenos Aires headquarters of the Argentine Agricultural Federation, to clearly explain what they expect from the meeting with the Government.
Carlos Achetoni (Agrarian Federation), Elbio Laucirica (Coninagro), Jorge Chemes (Argentine Rural Confederation) and Nicolás Pino (Rural Society) observed that they do not want to lend themselves to a political marketing staging of Tigrense. That’s why they organized an unusual press conference before the meeting. What was expected was that they would meet and then tell their conclusions. But they prefer to show their cards before the appointment with the government, so as not to get caught up in the communication strategy of the leader of the Renewal Front.
Even amid the drought that is leaving millions at a loss and many producers on the verge of bankruptcy, and with many helplines beginning to be dispensed by the state (national and provincial), ruralists have made it clear that they will guarantee nothing” Nor will they be surprised by Massa with announcements about measures they have not previously discussed.
Specifically, they held a press conference to present what they are asking to the public, who have been waiting to speak with Massa “for more than a month” and who now want to discuss with officials before the announced “relatively useful” measures are taken.
In this context, it is worth mentioning that the Liaison Table diplomatically exempted itself from being part of the “soy dollar” announcements, which Massa presented in early September and late November, with demonstrations at the Ministry of Economy in which they several managers of the agro-industry participated but not the bodies of the Liaison Table, which are the direct representatives of the producers at a political level.
In a statement entitled “The countryside can no longer wait for the times of politics”, the ruralists did not refer to the classic request for the elimination or reduction of withholdings, but they consider it appropriate in the scenario of halved and in some cases non-existent crops, but they are aware of the weakness of the tax accounts and both Massa and the Minister of Agriculture, Juan José Bahillo, warned them of the difficulty of reducing the tax burden on the countryside.
With the “soy dollar”, the offsets and other state aids “explain” to producers that it is as if taxes are being lowered … but export rights represent a “K flag” that no one in the Front of All is encouraged to discuss…
Therefore, since in addition to the Minister of the Economy and the Secretary of Agriculture, the leaders of Afip and Banco Nación will participate, the expectation is that the collection agency and the financial institutions (at least the national public bank) will not exert pressure with tight requests and deadlines, producers who are going through serious economic difficulties “deriving from the drought and the macro conditions that have not allowed them to better face this climatic situation”.
Source: Clarin
