Argentina's farmers, government hold rival protests

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2008

ROSARIO, Argentina (AFP) — Hundreds of thousands rallied Sunday in the industrial center of Rosario, northwest of the capital Buenos Aires, in support of farmers protesting export taxes on lucrative soybean products.

The opposition-backed farmers staged the protest in Rosario, the principal port for agricultural exports and Argentina's soy, two and a half months after a bitter dispute erupted over export tariffs imposed on soybean products.

"The government is blind and deaf. I hope they understand that we don't want a coup, we demand only equity and justice," Sara Castillejos, a 48-year-old farmer from the Sante Fe province, told AFP.

About 1,300 kilometers (807 miles) to the northwest, about 150,000 gathered in Salta to hear President Cristina Kirchner --...