Rolando Andrade/AFP-Getty Images
Protesting Prices: Farmers and their supporters demonstrate against the Government for raising export tariffs on soybean products in Rosario, Santa Fe province

By Brian Byrnes

In Argentina, history tends to repeat itself. Every decade or so, the country implodes in crisis: coup d’etats, dictatorships, hyperinflation, devaluation, crime--all trademarks of Argentina’s self-fulfilling prophecy of repeated and gross governmental failure.
 
The wounds of the 2001 economic collapse--popularly blamed on outside forces like the International Monetary Fund and Wall Street--have just barely healed, but Argentina once again looks to be on track for a meltdown, and this time it could be sparked by a showdown on the Pampas.
 
A conflict between the fledgling government of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Argentina’s influential farming sector over export taxes on commodities has dragged on since mid-March, and decimated the presidenta’s popularity. According to a poll released on May 22 by Poliarquia Consultores, Kirchner’s approval rating sank to 26 percent this month, down from 56 percent in January. This sharp decline was precipitated by the government’s inability to resolve the export-tax stalemate, but it has been deepened by the openly hostile stance that Cristina has taken with the farmers, and just about everyone else.