Yesterday, hundreds of farmers from different localities of the Upper Valley and Middle Valley went to Route 22 in their tractors to protest the lack of support to grow and sell their crop from the national government. The turnout was important.
The vehicles moved with caution on the main artery of the Valley throughout the morning. Some of the drivers were reluctant to the protest; especially those who endured the congestion at midmorning generated by the nearly 200 tractors installed near the road bridge that links Neuquén and Cipolletti. Other drivers encouraged the protest with their horns.
The farmers explained to each person that approached them the severe problems that the sector was facing in each of the assembly points along Route 22. "Millions of kilos of fruit remain un-harvested on the plants and many others will be lost due to the market prices," said a farmer helplessly to a driver who complained about the delay generated by the protest. "I took the free fruit to my house, but it is very sad that producers have to give it away," said a woman while she was picking pears and apples from a bin placed by the producers alongside Route 22.
• The producers from the Chamber of Allen and Fernandez Oro mobilized to Cipolletti and culminated their concentration at noon at the roundabout of routes 22 and 151, which generated a congestion of more than six kilometres. Sebastian Hernandez, of the Chamber of Allen, said: "This protest is the only way we will be heard and it's the only way to address the structural issues faced by the fruit producers." Edgar Artero, from Fernandez Oro, said they received pressured from Buenos Aires to lift the protest.
• In Cipolletti, local producers waited in two sectors: the first group distributed fruit at La Colmena, near the access to Jordan, and others waited on Route 22 and on Toschi street. Lots of people came to look for pears and apples and loaded them into grocery bags, portfolios and even baby strollers. A tiny group wanted to block the bridge and placed three tractors near the tollbooths, but other demonstrators wouldn't allow them to protest this way because the Producers Federation had supported a peaceful demonstration without any roadblocks.
• Producers in Roca got together early in the morning at the edge of the intersection between Route 6 and National Route 22, where nearly 120 people on board nearly 60 tractors, which subsequently went downtown, manifested on the roads. Protesters handed out fruit and chatted with people circulating around the place.
• Producers of the Middle Valley joined the protest. A group of vehicles: tractors, vans and cars, toured the national route 250 from the roundabout at Luis Beltran to the roundabout at Choele Choel, at around 10 am. The traffic was heavy and the return was dangerous. Some impatient drivers drove through the highway's shoulder or through the roadway even though there was a significant amount of oncoming vehicles and the protesters were being escorted by a police patrol. The attitude of the police was unexpected as they allowed all of this to happen.
• The farmers from the Colorado River mobilized through the town and ended at National Route 22 where they sold about 4,000 kilos of apples and pears, to portrait the situation faced by the fruit sector. They also let the population know the poor income they were receiving for their yearlong effort. The representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Rural Society, the President of the City Council, the Secretary of Municipal Coordination, private entities and some future political candidates joined and accompanied the protests throughout the day; a significant fact that has few precedents in this type of protest.
• Producers from Mainque, Huergo, Godoy, Regina, Chichester and Valle Azul mobilized on Route 22 and gave fruit to drivers without stopping traffic. Protestants parked their tractors beside the road and burned tires while delivering bags with pears to drivers travelling along the route. After noon, the producers of Regina also mobilized on Route 22 towards the locality Los Tres Puentes, located between Godoy and Huergo. At this point, the tractors were parked beside the road and protesters began delivering apples to drivers passing by.
The CAFI said in a press release that they shared "the concern over the serious crisis being faced by everyone who is a part of the production."
"Unfortunately our predictions are becoming real: all members of the fruit chain are being affected by falling exports, prices, and the enormous damage caused by hail. All this has an impact on the economy of the region: there are fewer jobs, less foreign exchange, and fewer resources for the entire chain," they said.
Source: rionegro.com.ar