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Latin American countries are experiencing an increasing burden of tobacco-related diseases. Smoke free policies are cost-effective interventions to control both exposure of non-smokers to the toxic chemicals in secondhand tobacco smoke and to reduce the prevalence of smoking and its consequent morbidity and mortality. The World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control has created momentum in Latin America to implement meaningful tobacco control policies. As of August 2007, Uruguay, two provinces and three cities in Argentina, and one state in Venezuela, had passed, regulated, and enforced 100% smoke free legislation. The tobacco industry, working through local subsidiaries, has been the strongest obstacle in achieving this goal and has prevented progress elsewhere in the region. During the 1990s, transnational tobacco companies Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco developed voluntary initiatives (''Courtesy of Choice'' and ''Environmental Tobacco Smoke Consultancy'' programs) to prevent effective smoke free policies. Another important barrier in the region has often been a weak and fragmented local civil society. Opportunities in the region that should be taken into account are a high public support for smoke free environments and increasing capacity building available from international collaboration on tobacco control. Policymakers and tobacco control advocates should prioritize the implementation of smoke free policies in Latin America to protect non-smokers, reduce smoking prevalence with its economic and disease burden in the region.

Objective: To describe the strategies pursued by the tobacco industry (TI) to interfere with the ratification of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in Argentina.Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews about the FCTC, the TI and the legislative process with 3 legislators, 4 public health officials, 1 representative of the tobacco growers and two tobacco control advocates. We reviewed 6 newspapers from the 4 tobacco growing provinces, searched TI documents in the Legacy Tobacco Documents Library and reviewed 1624 documents. Proposed legislation and related documents on tobacco control from Argentina's National Congress and the Provincial Jujuy Congress were reviewed.Results: The principal strategy used by the TI was lobbying of provincial legislators and federal officials from the Ministry of the Economy by the tobacco growers associations. These legislators prevented the passage of comprehensive bills on tobacco control or of less comprehensive national laws. A typical legislative strategy used was to request additional analyses of the proposed bills from committees that prioritized economic issues over health. FCTC was mentioned in regional newspapers three to seven times per week in articles about alleged adverse economic effects of tobacco control. Direct physical threats to legislators who were openly supportive of FCTC ratification were made.Conclusion: Tobacco producers and TI opposed FCTC ratification in Argentina by lobbying elected representatives and placing stories in regional media to obstruct approval of tobacco control laws. These activities have led to a delay in consideration of Argentina's ratification of the FCTC despite the President's signature in 2003.