Argentine agriculture secretary falls as battle between President, farmers escalates over exports

In Argentina, the battle between farmers and the government over tariffs and taxes took a casualty this week when Agriculture Secretary Carlos Cheppi abruptly resigned. The move follows a decision by President Cristina Fernandez to place the the National Agricultural Trade Office under the Production Ministry instead. NATO has been controlling farm exports.

“The resignation of someone who didn’t do much, doesn’t mean anything,” said Alfred Bel, an official with the Argentine Agricultural Federation, although FAA president Eduardo Buzzi said that “The first issue is to restore the institutions of the Ministry of Agriculture…We are talking about the institutional power to define what the production and marketing policies are.”

President Cristina Fernandez has been in huge political troubles in recent months as the local economy soured, and the farm sector has been particularly hard hit by her policies. Local sources report that the Peronist President is expected to resign before the end of her term. Farmers have been pressing without success for reductions in export levies — although European biodiesel producers have been pressuring the EU to take action against Argentine biodiesel, which is flooding EU markets.

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