Argentina Declares State
Of Emergency In Five
Provinces Hit By Severe
Drought
Argentine President
Cristina Fernandez on
Friday declared a state
of emergency in five
provinces hit by a
months-long drought.
The government also
granted 25 million pesos
(over 8 million U.S.
dollars) in aid to the
five provinces of
Cordoba, Buenos Aires,
Santa Fe, La Pampa and
Chaco.
The presidential decree
came after the
provincial governments
launched a bail-out
program to defer some
obligations and credit
payment of grain
producers in the region.
The drought, the worst
in 50 years, has left 10
percent of the farm land
in the five provinces
sterile and 400,000
livestock dead.
President of the
Agrarian Federation
(FAA) Eduardo Buzzi had
appealed for a
government aid of 500
million pesos (about 160
million dollars) to help
affected grain producers
avoid going bankrupt.
"The national government
should prove that it not
only seeks to be partner
of the producers when
they are profitable, but
is also present during
their losses," Buzzi
said. |
