MONTEVIDEO — Uruguay’s three largest agricultural associations blocked major highway access routes into Montevideo for a third consecutive day Saturday, halting all grain and livestock shipments and threatening to collapse supply chains for the country’s largest export ports. The blockade involves more than 400 trucks and 200 tractors — the most significant rural protest in Uruguay in 15 years.
Farm groups are demanding a rollback of a 15% increase in diesel taxes and a reversal of new export licensing requirements for beef and soy that they say will cost the sector $340 million in lost revenue this year. The Port of Montevideo reported a 60% drop in throughput. The IMF called the disruption “a significant risk to Uruguay’s 2026 growth forecast.”
Diego Vargas is Media Hook’s Latin America Correspondent.
Written by Diego Vargas, Latin America Correspondent