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Argentine leader's combative style hits popularity
Reuters
June 30, 2008

By Kevin Gray

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - When Argentine farmers launched protests against a tax hike on soy exports, President Cristina Fernandez called them greedy "coup plotters" intent on keeping food from "the tables of the poor."

They were sharp-tongued responses from the Argentine leader whose confrontational style and unwavering refusal to roll back the tax increase have sunk her popularity just six months after she took office.

Fernandez's approval ratings have slumped to 20 percent since the farm revolt began in mid-March, down from near 50 percent in January, said Argentine pollster Jorge Giacobbe.

"The problem isn't her policies, it's her methods," he said. "Argentines are reacting to the government's tone which many perceive as haughty and authoritarian."

Fernandez has resisted farmers' calls to repeal the tax hike in a standoff over how to share the spoils of booming grains prices. At times she has done it "using the tone of a schoolteacher, scolding her students or wagging her finger," Giacobbe said.

Laura Campos, 32 and unemployed, said she voted for Fernandez but has grown disillusioned with her during the farm conflict. "Instead of seeking dialogue, she is being arrogant, convinced she's right."

Fernandez used an executive order in March to link grains export taxes to global prices, which raised levies on the country's top crop -- soy.

Farmers responded by staging four strikes, holding back goods from market in protests that caused some food shortages. They say the tax change will ruin many small producers.

Hoping to quell the conflict and counter farmer criticism that she imposed the measure without congressional approval, Fernandez sent a bill to ratify the tax to Congress, where it is now being debated and could face changes.

But her adamant public defense of the tax hike and an 'us-versus-them' strategy has inflamed the conflict, analysts say.

"This either you're a friend or enemy strategy hasn't worked. Instead of building support for the government, it has only lost popularity in the last three months," said Graciela Romer, a political analyst.

TOUGH TALK

When middle-class Argentines banged pots and pans on the streets this month to protest Fernandez's handling of the conflict, the government responded by dispatching hundreds of supporters to counter them.

Fernandez has repeatedly lashed out at the media, accusing the local press of being one-sided in covering the dispute and attacking her government.

Her supporters recently plastered Buenos Aires with posters criticizing the country's biggest newspaper, Clarin, with slogans that read "Clarin Lies!"

Argentines often complain about partiality in the press, but the moves struck some as overly aggressive.

"Is there no middle ground that can solve this conflict?" asked Andrea Castano, a 38-year-old housewife. "The government seems to be playing it to the extreme."

But Patricia Echeverria, a 55-year-old secretary, said she agreed with Fernandez's tough talk. "The farmers are making a lot of money and don't want to contribute to the country's well-being."

Fernandez is also struggling with the growing perception that her husband and predecessor, former President Nestor Kirchner, is overshadowing her.

Head of the ruling Peronist party, Kirchner has been vocal in attacking the farmers and even led hundreds of supporters in a late-night rally backing his wife. The Kirchners say the farmers are determined to undermine the government.

Fernandez's style mirrors that of Kirchner. He too faced criticism for being heavy-handed, and his popularity has also been hit by the farm conflict.

"People expected Fernandez to be different," Giacobbe said. "She campaigned suggesting she was going to correct some of the shortcomings of her husband's government."