02/09/2024 – 19:14
At least a dozen roads in Colombia were intermittently blocked on Monday (2) due to protests by the transport sector against the increase in diesel prices decreed by the government.
According to what was announced weeks ago by the administration of leftist President Gustavo Petro, the price of fuel used by most freight vehicles increased by the equivalent of 46 cents (R$2.6) per gallon (3.8 liters) over the weekend.
In response, transporters have parked their trucks on the main access routes to Bogotá and also on those connecting the center of the country with Venezuela, the south and the Caribbean coast, according to transit authorities.
Bogotá City Hall reported “impacts” and “intermittent” cuts on eight roads, including the main access routes to the capital, with around eight million inhabitants.
A crowd was forced to get off public transport buses and walk to their destination due to blockades at the western entrance to Bogotá, according to videos released by local media.
Additionally, in the departments of Santander (north) and Norte de Santander (northeast), which connect the capital with Venezuela and the Caribbean region, there are eight other roadblocks, most of them intermittent, according to local governments.
A Venezuelan woman traveling to the border city of Cúcuta on a bus suffered health problems at one of the roadblocks and died on Monday, according to Santander’s Interior Secretary, Oscar Hernández.
In addition, the road between Bogotá and Villavicencio, which connects the capital with the oil and agricultural regions of the southeast of the country, also presents a “temporary blockade” due to the protests, according to the National Roads Institute.
– Subsidy cut –
Transporters and the government have held several meetings in recent weeks without reaching an agreement on the increase in fuel prices.
The rise in diesel prices “will impact the cost of living and the basic food basket of 60 million Colombians,” complained the Colombian Truck Drivers Association (ACC) on the social network X.
Despite the increase, the price of this hydrocarbon in Colombia is the third cheapest in the region thanks to a state subsidy. Diesel is only cheaper in Ecuador and Bolivia, according to the government.
The executive is seeking a gradual increase of $1.5 million (R$8.4 billion) as a measure to close the hole in public finances caused by the diesel subsidy, which is estimated at around $288 million (R$1.62 billion) by the end of the year.
“The subsidy we are giving to diesel could perfectly well be used (…) to provide a subsidy to all vulnerable families in Colombia”, and “we could also be building several roads that currently have problems”, argued Finance Minister Ricardo Bonilla at X.
The government says 56% of vehicles in Colombia use diesel, most of which are for freight and public transport.
The Petro government has been gradually increasing the price of gasoline over the last two years, reaching an increase of almost 100%.
However, he had refrained from increasing the price of ACPM (common diesel), as the measure directly affects transport and food prices, in a country with one of the highest inflation rates in the region.
In 2024, the Consumer Price Index stabilized until reaching 6.86% in July, almost five points less than in the same month in 2023.
In power since 2022, Petro has an ambitious environmental agenda that includes accelerating the economy’s transition to clean energy.
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