Indigenous protesters complain of up to 90% rise in fuel prices, unemployment and other issues
The government of Ecuador announced on Monday (20.Jun.2022) that 6 provinces in the country are under a state of exception because of protests. Previously, the measure was active in 3 locations.
The affected provinces are Pichincha, in the metropolitan region of Quito; Cotopaxi, Imbabura, Chimborazo, Tungurahua and Pastaza.
Ecuador is home to 1.1 million indigenous people among its approximately 17.5 million inhabitants, according to population census data.
PROTESTS
The president of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, declared a state of exception in an attempt to contain indigenous protests against the rise in fuel prices, which reaches its 9th day this Tuesday (21.jun).
The country exports oil, but imports fuel. In just over 1 year, the gallon of diesel rose 90% and that of gasoline, 46%. Due to pressure from protesters, prices have been frozen since October last year. Now, they demand that the value go down.
The indigenous people also ask for a moratorium on payment of debts owed to farmers, price controls on agricultural products, employment, suspension of mining concessions in their territories and investments in health, education and security.
To contain the crisis, the government readjusted by 10% aid paid to the most vulnerable population (from US$ 50 to US$ 55), started to grant subsidies to small and medium rural producers and forgave debts of up to US$ 3,000 with the bank government for the promotion of production. In addition, it also declared a public health emergency in order to allocate more resources to the sector and doubled the budget for intercultural education.
The Quito Chamber of Commerce told the AFP that the protests resulted in a loss of at least US$ 60 million to the productive sector in the first 5 days, affected oil production and the cultivation and export of flowers.
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