The president of Ecuador Guillermo Lasso offered a message to the nation this Thursday, June 30, assuring that it is time to rebuild the country and make up for lost time, this after delegates from the Government and indigenous communities agreed to end the protests against the high cost of living. The activists agreed to lift the mobilizations after the government promised to reduce fuel by 5 cents more, among other measures.
The Ecuadorian president, Guillermo Lasso, highlighted the importance of “healing wounds and overcoming the division between Ecuadorians” in order to achieve the objective that must be one, according to his words, “to rebuild Ecuador, make up for lost time and work hard, especially for the most vulnerable”.
In a message that lasted a little over two minutes, he called on the country to unite to “undertake together the task of transforming peace” achieved with the agreements reached with indigenous organizations and transform it into “well-being and opportunities for all.”
In addition, the president promised to place the countryside and rural areas as a national priority to put an end to the abandonment that has been suffered by the State for more than 40 years.
“We always said that politics should serve to get the best out of each one, now is the time to do it,” Lasso stressed.
Near the end of his speech, he sent a message of solidarity to the relatives of the eight fatal victims left by the conflict in the 18 days of demonstrations: “We will always carry them in our hearts and in our memory” and thanked the role played by the church Catholic in the conciliation of the parties.
“The relief that we feel today reveals a reality, that we are a family, we all want the best for this country, we are here to build a better Ecuador, united, strong and supportive” concluded the president.
Now that peace has returned to the country, I want to give my message of unity to Ecuadorians. Let’s make up for lost time! pic.twitter.com/q3xqpKHNnx
— Guillermo Lasso (@LassoGuillermo) July 1, 2022
Among the agreed issues, the reduction of five cents more to the price of the gallon of extra and eco country gasoline, as well as diesel, stands out. In total, it will be a reduction of 15 cents, taking into account the reductions approved by the Administration of President Guillermo Lasso days ago, during the strong protests.
With the new provisions, the cost per gallon of the two types of gasoline in the country will be 2.40 dollars, while that of diesel will be 1.75 dollars.
#Attention Agreements were reached to end the national strike. The indigenous movement will declare the end of the protests, while the Lasso government agreed to reduce five cents more to the prices of diesel and extra gasoline and ecopaís. pic.twitter.com/6aUYaMTKLo @sugeyhajjar
– The Universe (@eluniversocom) June 30, 2022
Likewise, the Government promised to repeal the state of exception, annul decree 95 on oil policy and make reforms to order 151, Therefore, it promises to prohibit the concession of new licenses for mining exploitation in natural reserves, intangible and archaeological areas, areas of water sources and in indigenous territories.
The Lasso Administration also announced prior and informed consultation on these issues of interest.
For its part, the Ecuadorian Episcopal Conference indicated that follow-up tables will be set up for these agreements.
High costs of living triggered more than two weeks of protests
The strike promoted by the indigenous communities was followed by violent protests, which began as a rejection of the high costs of fuel and food.
But the prolonged demonstration caused at least eight deaths, a high shortage of basic products in the family basket, a significant reduction in oil production and even prevented the passage of ambulances, amid the blockades of highways and roads in the country.
The demonstrators also demanded a larger government budget for education and health and the fixing of prices for agricultural products.
To the agreements agreed this Thursday, both parties arrive after last Monday they broke off the first attempt at talks.
The alleged attack by members of the indigenous communities against a fuel convoy escorted by the Army left one soldier dead and 12 soldiers wounded, for which the Government abandoned the negotiations at that time.
However, under pressure from civil society that was strongly affected, including businessmen and the same food producers who saw heavy losses every day, the parties resumed negotiations.
🇪🇨✊🏾 Only the fight has allowed us to conquer rights!
We do have results in the 10-point national agenda, we do achieve measures to alleviate the economic, health and education situation of vulnerable families in the countryside and cities; We lower decrees to defend life. pic.twitter.com/paEpM030za— CONAIE (@CONAIE_Ecuador) June 30, 2022
After the agreement to conclude the strike, the losses are recorded
Representatives of the business, tourism and export sectors reacted after the signing of the peace act, assuring that after 18 days of national strike, this generated great economic losses to the country and that now it is necessary to work on the recovery of the different sectors.
Miguel Ángel González, president of the Ecuadorian Business Committee (CEE) assured that trade was the hardest hit and warned that recovery will not be easy. In addition, he invited the Government to implement policies that promote reactivation, such as the reduction of the foreign exchange outflow tax (ISD) and the elimination of tariffs.
“Businessmen are resilient and we will try to cover the economic losses of the national strike in the shortest time possible. The first thing on the agenda is to return the mobility of merchandise to normal,” said González.
On the other hand, representatives of the tourism sector also see recovery as uphill. They assure that they had barely been resurfacing after the consequences left by the Covid-19 pandemic. Holbach Muñeton, president of the Federation of Chambers of Tourism of Ecuador and vice president of the CEE, said that the strike did not leave anything good and rejected the agreements reached between the Government and indigenous organizations.
“We have not had the support of the Government, this agreement that they have reached with Conaie is not to be congratulated, nobody has won, we have all lost, there have been 18 days of strike, there are no prisoners, there are no people responsible”, Muñeton pointed out.
Meanwhile, the export sector reported that from the moment the strike was lifted, work began to remove all the products that could still be saved. They announced that they will also work to create a joint work mechanism with the Government to establish low-cost credit and compensation policies to sustain sources of employment.
“The important thing is that peace was achieved, a costly peace, a very painful peace, but we have peace. From now on, what we have to look for are productive collection mechanisms, someone has to bear this cost,” said Felipe Rivadeneira, president of the Ecuadorian Federation of Exporters (Fedexpor).
We signed the “Act for Peace” with which the strike ends and a call is made for peaceful coexistence, public order, the economic development of the country and national reconciliation.
Today there are no individual winners or losers, today the only winner is Ecuador🇪🇨💪🏾💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/Us18HM4f0l– Francisco Jiménez S. (@panchojimenezs) June 30, 2022
Classes and transportation will be reactivated
Classes will be reactivated in all educational institutions as of July 1, as reported by the country’s Ministry of Education in a statement published this Thursday.
The fiscal educational institutions of the Sierra-Amazonía and Costa-Galápagos regime will resume face-to-face classes, while the private and municipal fiscal institutions will be able to choose between distance or traditional education.
After the start of the protests, more than a million and a half students who had returned to face-to-face classes after two years of the pandemic had to return to virtual classes, but with these announcements they will be able to finish the 2021-2022 school year, attending to their educational institutions.
[COMUNICADO] We inform the educational community that, once the strike is over, all public educational institutions in #SierraAmazon face-to-face classes will resume, starting Friday, July 01 this year. Learn more 👇 pic.twitter.com/JaCoa0vAP8
– Ministry of Education of Ecuador (@Educacion_Ec) June 30, 2022
Another sector that resumed work without delay was the land terminals. The vendors of the different cooperatives already offered the ticket office in the corridors this Thursday afternoon and the passengers who were stranded in the different destinations quickly came to move.
Geovanny Cayapa, a user of the Guayaquil land terminal, explained that he was worried that the demonstrations would continue, since he was far from Puyo, the city where he lives, and as soon as he found out about the agreement, he went to the terminal to return home. The same situation that José Luis Chasi had to live through, who stayed fifteen days in the house of acquaintances, “a relief, there was uncertainty because one was here alone” declared Chasi.
More than 40 cooperatives live in the land terminal in Guayaquil, and as a result of the demonstrations they kept their operations paralyzed. Many of the drivers had problems with lodging and food during the last 18 days.
With EFE, AP and local media
#Ecuador #task #transforming #peace #Lasso #strike #ended