Ferrocarriles Argentinos The only rail line catalogued as "profitable" was the Constitución-Mar del Plata section. On March 10, 1993, president Menem signed the decree for which all the long distance passenger services were definitely closed. Some of the provinces that lost their connection with Buenos Aires were Salta, Jujuy, Entre Ríos, Corrientes, Misiones, Mendoza, San Juan, San Luis, Catamarca and La Rioja. The closure caused many villages became isolated from the main cities of Argentina and younger inhabitants departured from their born towns looking for better opportunities. This happened in cities such as La Banda, Laguna Paiva, San Cristóbal, Navarro, Las Marianas
Tobacco industry in Argentina are concentrated in the north of the country. The provinces of Jujuy and Salta (in the north-west), and Misiones (in the north-eastern Mesopotamia), are the leading ones, with over 45,000 tonnes/year each. The other tobacco-producing provinces are Tucumán, Corrientes, Chaco and Catamarca. Tobacco plays an important role in the economy of the producing areas, which are comparatively poor provinces. The Argentine tobacco industry employs 500,000 people, about half of them directly involved in the planting and harvesting, only about 2% in the manufacturing of the derived products, and the rest in distribution and sales. Therefore, despite the fact that the