Ecuador Government, Indigenous Leaders Sign Deal To End Protests

Ecuador government, Indigenous leaders sign deal to end protests

Quito, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 1st Jul, 2022 ) :Ecuador's government and Indigenous leaders signed a deal on Thursday that would cut fuel prices and end cost-of-living protests that largely paralyzed the country for 18 straight days.

The agreement, mediated by the Catholic Church and signed in Quito, provides for a five-cent-per-gallon reduction in the price of diesel and gasoline on top of a 10-cent cut already conceded by the government.

Fast-rising fuel prices were the catalyst for the protests called by the powerful Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (Conaie) and marked by burning roadblocks and sometimes violent clashes with the security forces.

Five civilians and a soldier have died since the protests started on June 13, hundreds were injured on both sides, and some 150 people have been arrested.

Signed by Conaie leader Leonidas Iza and government minister Francisco Jimenez, the agreement foresees further negotiations between the two sides, an end to the disruptive roadblocks erected countrywide, and the lifting of a state of emergency in four of Ecuador's 24 provinces.

It also provides for a review of government decrees on oil exploitation and mining in Indigenous lands.

Iza announced after the signing that "we will suspend" the protest.

President Guillermo Lasso, for his part, said of the deal: "We have achieved the supreme value to which we all aspire: peace in our country."He added on Twitter: "The strike is over. Now we begin together the task of transforming this peace into progress, well-being, and opportunities for all."