Urgent meeting at the Casa Rosada: Manzur and Domínguez hasten a resolution to the conflict over the closure of meat exports

On a day and at an unusual pace compared to the times when the Executive had been working, the new Chief of Staff, Juan Manzur, and the also new Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Julián Domínguez, hold a meeting this Saturday morning to draw up a roadmap and satisfy as soon as possible a presidential instruction: put an end to the conflict with the rural sector, and in particular with livestock producers and meat processing plants, over the limitation of meat exports.

The haste is motivated not only by economic issues, due to lower export earnings, the loss of shifts and hours of work and even the incipient layoffs of personnel in the cold stores, but also by political motivations. An analysis of the results of the Open, Simultaneous and Mandatory Primaries (PASO) on September 12 showed that the initial ban and the somewhat softer subsequent limitations on meat sales caused a level of unease that was reflected in the electoral results. in Entre Ríos (where the ruling party lost by a wide margin) and La Pampa, a province where Peronism was practically undefeated since the return of democracy.

Sergio Ziliotto, the Pampean governor, was at the Casa Rosada during the week, where he was received by Manzur. Later, he also met with Domínguez, the head of Agriculture, who initially showed friendly gestures towards the sector. In addition, like his counterparts from Entre Ríos, Gustavo Bordet, and from Córdoba, Juan Schiaretti, the head of state of the Pampas openly supported the demand of the rural sector for the liberation of meat exports. Córdoba is a lost cause for the ruling party, but La Pampa and Entre Ríos are hills that it intends to reconquer in the legislative elections in November.

In search of lost votes: Ziliotto, the Pampean governor, was received this week by the Minister of Agriculture, Julián Domínguez

The government of the governors

Pressure from Peronist governors to end the conflict has gained momentum in recent days. Domínguez, the head of Agriculture, also instructed technicians from his portfolio to meet with technical representatives of the Field Liaison Table (made up of the Rural Society, Rural Confederations, Agrarian Federation and the cooperative members of Coninagro) and there have already been two technical meetings on this and other issues that concern the rural sector, the last one yesterday Friday.

In addition, Domínguez will receive on Tuesday the holders of the Table, Nicolás Pino (SRA), Jorge Chemes (CRA), Carlos Achetoni (Agrarian Federation) and Elbio Laucirica (Coninagro). Some, like Pino, have already made it known that they do not want to be invited by stone to a new appeasement move and that if they are not summoned to announce a specific measure that ends the export restrictions, they are not willing to go to the meeting. . In fact, several weeks ago the different entities consulted their different regions, and through them their associated producers, the development of a “Fight Plan”. That is precisely what the Government is now seeking to deactivate, in addition to satisfying the request of its own governors and recovering the votes lost in the primaries.

The agricultural front

From the agricultural sector the claim continues to be the total liberation of beef exports, as reiterated today by Pino, the head of the Rural Society, in statements by radio Miter. “We hope that the announcements that the Government is going to make are in line with the total lifting of the measure, which has already been shown to be a decision that did nothing but harm production, industry, and workers in the industry. and the whole country ”.

“We hope that the announcements that the Government is going to make are in line with the total lifting of the measure, which has already been shown to be a decision that did nothing but harm production, industry, and workers in the industry. and the whole country ”(Nicolás Pino, president of the Rural Society)

In the meeting of the Liaison Table with Domínguez, which would take place on Tuesday, meat is the number one issue, but the production representatives still doubt whether the new official will give the steering wheel, since in the final part of the campaign electoral by the PASO, both the president and vice president Cristina Kirchner defended the stocks, arguing that it had stabilized consumer prices in July and August.

“The stocks caused stability. That must be recognized. The exporting cold stores were forced to return to the domestic market, but this is not the way to go to find a solution. In the next few days there will be a shortage of cattle and meat due to the bad decision of the Government, because the producer has stopped feeding it or what is known as the feedlot, which are confinements so that in 120 days we have a finished animal fat, but today they are working at 50%, a consequence of the uncertainty caused by these measures, ”said Pino.

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