Banana growers from Bolivia and Paraguay who export their fruit to Argentina demand payment from that country for the fruit and have protested in front of the Argentine embassies in Bolivia and Paraguay. During the mobilizations, they asked the authorities in those countries to demand that Argentina pay for the bananas they sold to them since they lived in a "distressing" situation. They claim the hindrance in the lack of payments is a "scam" by the Argentine government. 

"Argentina, pay for the banana you have already eaten," was written on the La Paz, Bolivia posters. They requested the normalization of payments from Argentina for fruit exports. 

Matías Fanego, President of the Paraguayan Chamber of Bananas and Pineapples (Capabap) said through images that they went out to demonstrate in front of the Argentine Embassy in Asunción to express their concern about the hindrance in payments that is leading them to a situation of bankruptcy. We are denouncing a scam that is being set up by the Argentine central government that is not allowing importers to access the dollar market, so the chain of payments through which we usually receive the money has been cut," Fanego explained in a video in which they make the problem visible. 

"The sector is falling into a total bankruptcy," he said. Producers can no longer sell the products; exporters need more liquidity to pay primary producers. 

According to reports in the Bolivian press, dozens of banana producers protested on November 6 in front of the Argentine Embassy to demand payment of more than $12 million owed to them for banana exports to the Argentine market. Daniel Ramos, President of the Union of Banana Growers of the Tropic of Cochabamba, said at a conference that the debt increases every week and that this will be the last one they will export to Argentina until they are paid. 

According to the import system of the National Service of Agri-Food Health and Quality (Senasa), so far this year, Argentina has imported 407,452 tons of fresh fruit from Ecuador (205,564 tons), Bolivia (98,674 tons), Paraguay (78,008 tons), Brazil (19,636 tons), and Colombia (5588 tons).  

According to reports, Argentina has frozen all import payments by the AFIP. The Single Current Account for Foreign Trade (CUCCE) is paralyzed. The Ministry of Commerce authorizes payments, but the AFIP blocks them. 

A week ago, the total debt held by companies operating in Argentina with their suppliers or parent companies abroad reached US$54 billion, according to a report by Romano Grupo, based on data from a bank.