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Gov't exposes 'fake' boycott, farmers point finger at INDEC
Buenos Aires Herald
June 26, 2008

By Guillermo Haskel

The leaders of Argentina's longest-ever farm rebellion, in turn, accused the government of lying and of mounting a dirty campaign.

In a full-page paid ad published in the largest newspapers, the administration of President Cristina Kirchner claimed that although farmers launched several sales boycotts of grain exports to force it to go back on the higher export duties levied in March, farmers had actually exported huge amounts of grain and oilseeds, caused food and fuel shortages, job losses and higher inflation.

Farmers dismissed the claims as sheer lies.

"Those who have been lying about the INDEC will do nothing but to continue lying," Mario Llamb as, one of the outstanding leaders of the protests, told a crowd gathered in a tent in front of Congress.

The INDEC is the state agency that measures inflation and prosecutors have accused government and INDEC officials of doctoring inflation figures.