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March 26 (Bloomberg) -- Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is confronting the biggest anti-government protests in more than six years as farmers vowed to extend a strike and Buenos Aires residents took to the streets.

Thousands of demonstrators banging pots massed around the obelisk in the capital and in front of the presidential palace until early this morning. Protests extended across the country, from the coastal town of Mar del Plata to the northern city of Tucuman. In Buenos Aires, protesters squared off with government supporters, some carrying sticks, hours after Fernandez attacked farmers for their two-week strike and ``abundant'' profits.

``We are out in support of the farmers and against the policies of this government,'' said graduate student Ana Gurdian, 30. ``They pretend that everything is going well, but there are real problems they are ignoring.''

Farmers, who blocked roads preventing trucks from entering ports and warehouses, want the government to roll back export taxes of about 44 percent on soybeans and sunflower seeds that were announced March 11. The protests have led to food shortages and are unifying opposition to Fernandez, who succeeded her husband, Nestor Kirchner, on Dec. 10.

`Provoke Conflict'

Luis D'Elia, a former official in Nestor Kirchner's government, accused the protesters of attempting a ``coup d'etat.'' Television images showed him swinging at a protester last night as he led pro-government supporters by the obelisk.

``Those with the money, the farmers, should pay the taxes, which are still too low and should be 60 percent,'' D'Elia said last night.

The arrival of government supporters near the presidential palace early this morning threatened to worsen rising tensions between the two sides. Argentine television images showed fist fights breaking out, leaving some with bloody noses. Few police were seen in the area.

``The government is trying to provoke conflict between Argentines when it should be promoting non-violence,'' opposition leader Elisa Carrio said in an interview with the C5N television channel.

Fernandez, in a speech at the presidential palace yesterday, said she won't back down.

``I won't allow myself to be extorted,'' Fernandez said. ``Do we want a country that is only for a select few or a country that is more just, with greater equality?''

The farmers also showed no signs of wavering. Eduardo Buzzi, president of the Argentine Agriculture Federation, said the strike, including a shortage-inducing halt on produce deliveries, will go on ``as long as necessary.''

Argentina has relied on rising agricultural revenue to help maintain a budget surplus as spending has surged. Fernandez says the taxes subsidize roads and diesel fuel that farmers need to get their goods to market. Argentina is the world's second- largest corn exporter behind the U.S. and the third-largest soybean exporter.

Farmers have blocked 1.5 million tons of cereals and oilseeds from being loaded onto ships during the past two weeks, Alberto Rodriguez, president of CIARA-CEC, an association of vegetable oil processors and cereal exporters, said in a phone interview. Grocery store shelves normally full of beef were bare in parts of the capital this morning.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analyst Pablo Morra yesterday said food shortages will probably worsen if the protests continue.

Before:

1 kilo of meat: 6$

30 eggs: 10$

Now:

1 kilo of meat: 18$

12 eggs: 10$