Ecuadorian indigenous people blocked access to Quito this Thursday and other highways in the country on the fourth day of protests against the rise in the cost of living, which spread to other sectors, while the government of Guillermo Lasso insisted on its call for dialogue to put an end to them.
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In the south of the capital, where small groups were concentrated, sand there was a strong police presence to clear roadsclosed with burning tires, logs and rocks.
(See also: Protests in Ecuador: UN asks to respect the right to demonstrate)
“We are here because of the high cost of living. The rise in fuel prices has affected us a lot in our fields,” José Pallo, an indigenous person from the town of Saquisilí (south), told AFP.
We are here because of the high cost of living. The rise in fuel prices has affected us a lot in our fields
A truck carrying protesters overturned in Quito leaving twelve injured, according to firefighters. The vehicle had a sign attached with the legend “Present to the strike! Lasso out!”
As protesters protested in the streets, Lasso, a former right-wing banker in power for a year, once again threw an olive branch.
“We have called for dialogue for Ecuadorian families, for the peasant, for the child who wants to return to his classroom, for the carrier who cannot move forward with a closed road,” the president said in a new tweet.
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Lasso spoke with representatives of freight transport at the presidential headquarters, in a meeting that he described as “positive”, after dozens of trucks also closed the passage to Quito.
Why are they protesting?
The protests, which have been joined by students and teachers, began on Monday indefinitely at the call of the powerful and opposition Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (Conaie), calling for price reduction to $1.50 per gallon 3.78 liters for diesel and 2.10 for 85 octane gasoline.
Between May 2020 and October 2021, diesel increased by 90% (from 1 to 1.90 dollars) and extra gasoline by 46% (1.75 to 2.55).
After three days of demonstrations, there is still no light at the end of the tunnel: the head of Conaie, Leonidas Iza, considers that the Executive does not offer guarantees to talk, stating that it has not responded to the requests of the original peoples.
Indigenous, representing one million of the 17.7 million Ecuadorians, “after a year we have had no answers,” he said. Lasso’s government and Conaie held negotiations last year, without results.
“As long as we don’t have this response, we continue the mobilization actions throughout the national territory, until the government wakes up from its indifference,” Iza said in a new speech broadcast by her organization on social networks.
Reactivation and losses
The Conaie, which participated in revolts that overthrew three presidents between 1997 and 2005, indicated that it presented a statement with ten demands to the Executive on Monday.
In particular they demand the reduction of fuel prices but also the regulation of the price of agricultural products and the renegotiation of debts that four million families have with banks.
“#WeCan’tStop,” Lasso responded. “We only have time to continue on the reactivation line” of the economy, hit by the covid-19 pandemic. In 15 of the 24 provinces of the country there were roadblocks, according to the Integrated Security Service ECU911.
Demonstrations and marches also took place in cities such as Riobamba, Salcedo and Guaranda (south), according to Conaie, which staged strong anti-government protests in 2019, with eleven deaths, and 2021.
The indigenous people report 14 wounded in incidents. Eight officers were injured, while another eleven and a prosecutor were temporarily held by protesters, according to the police, who also reported 29 detainees.
Iza, who was arrested for a day and will face trial for blocking the roads during the demonstrations, pointed out that the resolution of the aboriginal organizations is to mobilize indefinitely.
The protests are already affecting the productive sector, including the oil sector with the shutdown of wells in the Amazon jungle. Ecuador produced 481,000 barrels of oil a day between January and April, according to the central bank.
The Minister of Production, Julio Prado, indicated that the losses due to the protests amount to 20 million dollars.
More than a week of demonstrations in 2019 caused economic damage of 800 million dollars. On Thursday, in the midst of the protests, the President’s Communications Secretary, Eduardo Bonilla, announced that he had left office.
AFP
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