Paraguay: Truckers threaten to “shut down” the country over fuel prices

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Social pressure is growing worldwide at the same pace as food and fuel prices are rising due to the Russian military operation in Ukraine. Paraguay and Argentina are two examples. In the former, truck drivers threaten to “shut down” the country over fuel prices. In Argentina, the soybean sector is protesting the government’s decision to suspend exports.

In Paraguay, truckers are threatening to “shut down” the country and bring their trucks to the capital, Asunción, if the government does not take measures to contain domestic fuel prices. The truckers have already staged intermittent demonstrations and blockades throughout the country.

“Mr. President Abdo Benítez, we want an immediate solution. We are not asking for subsidies, we don’t want anything for free, we want to work,” said a spokesman for the truckers.

The Paraguayan government has proposed creating a fuel price stabilization fund and lowering the fuel cost for the productive sectors, but the truckers are asking for measures that benefit “all citizens”.

ARGENTINA: SOYBEAN PRODUCERS ON THE WARPATH

In Argentina, the soybean sector is on a war footing following the government’s decision to suspend exports of soybean meal and soybean oil, two products of which the South American country is the world’s main supplier.

Farmers say the measure heralds Buenos Aires’ intention to raise taxes on these exports to increase state revenue, taking advantage of soaring prices on the international market.

“The state robs us; the state plunders us,” says farmer Viter von Pavich. “We are here precisely because they don’t let us produce. Argentina is one of the few countries that have withholding taxes, charged for producing and exporting”.

Argentina is a world leader in the soybean sector. Its derivatives in 2021 accounted for 30% of the South American country’s exports and contributed to the treasury some 9 billion dollars in export taxes.

With information from Euronews