QUITO, Oct 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Ecuador’s transport unions called off protests against the scrapping of fuel subsidies by President Lenin Moreno after two days of unrest that halted transport nationwide and resulted in almost 370 arrests.
From the highland capital Quito to the coastal city of Guayaquil, many bus and taxi services halted service on Thursday and Friday, while demonstrators blocked roads and clashed with police. Despite the transport unions’ announcement, other social movements vowed to stay in the streets.
Moreno’s elimination of the decades-old fuel subsidies has incensed many Ecuadoreans and brought violent protests back to a nation with a history of political volatility.
By Friday evening, 368 people had been arrested, mainly in Quito and Guayaquil, the Interior Ministry said. Looting was reported in Guayaquil.
Authorities say 59 police officers have been hurt, a dozen police cars destroyed, and a local government building attacked.
At a news conference, the transport unions’ spokesman Abel Gomez said they had expressed their disagreement and handed a list of demands to the government. “Therefore today, for our side, our measures end,” he said.
But leaders for indigenous groups, students and other unions, which had joined the protests, told reporters in Quito earlier that they would continue and called for a nationwide strike on Oct 9.
“Not even jail will stop the Ecuadorean people’s struggle,” said Nelson Erazo, head of the Popular Front, an organization that groups together unions and social movements. “These will be days of unrest.”
Moreno, a 66-year-old who uses a wheelchair after a 1998 shooting during a robbery left him paraplegic, has declared a 60-day state of emergency across Ecuador.
Diesel prices have risen from $1.03 to $2.30 per gallon, while gasoline went from $1.85 to $2.39.
Ecuador hopes to save about $1.5 billion a year from ending fuel subsidies. Along with tax reforms, the government would benefit by about $2.27 billion.
Ecuador also plans to leave the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 2020 to pump more oil and raise revenue.
Moreno’s government has improved relations with the West and reached its three-year, $4.2 billion loan deal with the IMF in February, dependent on “structural measures” including raising tax revenue and bolstering central bank independence.
The deal allowed Ecuador to receive an immediate disbursement of $652 million and paved the way for an additional $6 billion in loans from other multilateral institutions. — NNN-AGENCIES
