BUENOS AIRES—Argentina's government prepared to hold a massive rally in the center of the capital on Wednesday, seeking to show its strength in a bitter three-month dispute with farmers over export taxes.
The conflict has eroded the popularity of President Cristina Fernandez, and in an effort to ease tensions she asked Congress on Tuesday to ratify the tax hike on soy exports that triggered the country's deepest political crisis in six years.
A poll published late on Tuesday showed 19.9 percent of respondents had a positive opinion of Fernandez, down from 23 percent a month ago and 30 percent in April.
Striking farmers, who are refusing to send goods to market and blocking grains trucks on highways, said the president's announcement to involve the Congress was a positive gesture. They were due to meet to decide whether to lift their protest on Wednesday.
Pro-government groups said tens of thousands of people would gather in the downtown square that lies in front of the pink presidential palace for the afternoon rally, which opposition leaders and some ruling party members have criticized as being confrontational.
The demonstration seeks to counter anti-government protests that erupted across the country on Monday, when thousands of Argentines banged pots and pans in scenes reminiscent of the devastating economic and political crisis of 2001/2002.
"Our supporters are saying 'Why do we have to keep our mouths shut when other people are going out to bang pots and pans?'" Justice Minister Anibal Fernandez told TN television.
Trade union umbrella group the General Labor Confederation gave workers permission to take a half-day in order to attend the rally, where Fernandez was due to speak.
Food Prices
Fernandez, who took office six months ago, has defended the controversial export tax increase announced in mid-March as a way to redistribute the bounty of high global food prices among the poor and fight inflation.
Argentina is one of the world's biggest providers of soybeans, corn, wheat and beef, but nearly a quarter of the population lives in poverty.
Political analysts said Fernandez's decision to refer the tax hike to Congress for ratification could mark a significant turning point in the conflict.
"The government appears to have got a bit of sense back," wrote Eduardo van der Kooy in top-selling daily Clarin, describing the decision as "perhaps the most noticeable U-turn" made by the government in five years.
But opposition figures said the gesture did not go far enough. Lawmakers will be asked only to vote for or against the export tax shake-up in its present form, not draw up new legislation.
Cabinet Chief Albert Fernandez said the government was not obliged to refer such laws to Congress, and had only done so to prove it has broad support.
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