Argentine farmers give away produce in land protest
Argentine farmers gave away tonnes of produce in downtown Buenos Aires Wednesday as part of a protest to demand access to credits to buy land.
People, many of them pensioners, formed long lines in the Plaza de Mayo to get free leeks, heads of lettuce, stalks of celery unloaded from the back of trucks.
Dubbed "el verdurazo," the protest was organized by the UTT farm workers union to press for passage of a law that would make credits available to small farmers to buy land.
"A big majority of small producers do not own the land we live on and farm, making us slaves to unregulated rents and constant uncertainty," the UTT said in a statement.
Agro Industries Minister Ricardo Buryaile dismissed the protest.
"Instead of a giveaway in the Plaza de Mayo, they should go and sell it at the fair," he said, referring to a network of markets that the government supports.