The Ecuadorian government has agreed with protest leaders to end more than two weeks of protests against rising fuel prices and the cost of living.
The government pledged to reduce the price of gasoline by $0.15, subsidize fertilizer, provide loans at preferential rates to small families, increase support for poor families, and cancel debts of up to $3,000 per debtor.
The protesters are demanding more fuel subsidies, an end to government plans to privatize state-owned assets, a halt to new oil and mining projects, among other reforms.
The head of the Union of Indigenous Peoples, Leonidas Issa, as one of the leaders of the demonstrations, expressed his willingness to stop the demonstrations, commenting: “We will stop our movement.”
With the approval of the overall 15 cent cut on fuel, indigenous people will receive an additional five cents from the government compared to the first dime cut that was approved a few days ago.
The protesters demanded a 40-cent discount from the start of their movement.
It is worth noting that the Ecuadorian parliament recently refused to fire Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso after the opposition party did not win enough votes to remove him from office, while Lasso’s retention in office comes at a time when the government went to concessions of more than $600 million, including lower fuel prices, in an attempt to dispel the violent riots and protests that have gripped the country since mid-June.
Source: El Nashra