Witnessing A Historical Event In The Making
We were very lucky to be in Buenos Aires at the time that we were as we got to see a different side of Argentina, a side that is not represented in any guidebooks. During our stay, we saw several large-scale protests erupting around the city over the President’s controversial decision to increase the export duty tax on commodities that local farmers produce. Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner had imposed the 44% export tax (which would go up to 90% based on the record commodities prices)- which applied to soybeans, wheat, corn and sunflower seeds - on March 11 2008 without consulting Congress.
Since it was the second major agricultural tax hike in just four months, thousands of Argentine farmers were angry over the escalating taxes. To show their displeasure at the ‘windfall’ taxes, they organized roadblocks in the country, and prevented trucks that were piled with agricultural goods for export from passing through. The roads were blocked for more than three months as talks between the government and the farmers resulted in no resolution. We saw at first-hand the diminishing supplies of foodstuffs on supermarket shelves while we were there, and also saw price increases for food such as beef in food courts. For some time, we could not buy milk at all because there wasn’t enough milk in the supermarkets!
The photos below were ones that we took on several occasions. Some were organized by the president, some were organized by the farmers.
Protesters marching down the city
The protesting was so loud that we got awakened from sleep
Beating their drums and shouting
Traffic in many parts of Buenos Aires was disrupted
Even office workers came out to see what’s happening
We think it is great that people have the freedom of expression, whether they have been asked to join in a protest for or against the government; at least they have a say!
Setting off firecrackers to gather the city’s attention
This photo is of supporters of Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and trade unions marching down the city in a planned rally to back the Argentine leader
Finally in mid-July 2008, President CFK was forced to drop the export tax after failing to get enough votes from the congress. By the time the whole saga was over, Argentina had lost a lot of revenue as farmers had halted exports of commodities to the rest of the world during the protest (which resulted in corn and soy prices skyrocketing around the world due to shortage).
Argentina is the world’s second-largest corn exporter and third-largest soybean supplier. Rising prices of these commodities have made Argentina richer in recent years and it was precisely the commodities boom which is widely credited with helping the country rebound from a devastating economic crisis in 2001.
From what we saw and experienced, Argentina is a rich country and also a poor country. It has one of the largest fertile plains in the world, is one of the biggest agricultural exporters, but yet, due to fiscal mismanagement and corruption, the country is quite poor. Its subway system is very old; schools do not have heating (which is needed during winter); there are many homeless people sleeping on the streets, and countless people scrounging for food in dustbins and trash bags all over the city. It is estimated that at least half of Argentina’s population are living in poverty. The gap between the haves and have nots is astonishing.
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