Ecuador: Indigenous peoples concerned about slow progress in dialogue with government to meet their demands

Local and peasant movement Ecuador expressed concern on Tuesday about the pace of dialogue he is having with Government meet 10 demands that sparked protests last June, when most of the country was paralyzed for 18 days.

The technical dialogue tables, which began on July 13, have a period of 90 days to reach agreement on the 10 points of the list of requirements, according to the agreement signed between the Government and indigenous organizations and the peasant women who put an end to the mobilizations.

During these first three weeks of work, only the public bank desk was completed, where the restructuring of peasant families with overdue debts up to $10,000 and access to various programs for new loans.

Negotiations on the fuel subsidy targeting table and the price control table are still underway, while the remaining 7 tables have not yet started their work.

“If we go at this pace, we will not finish in the planned 90 days,” the president said. Indigenous Confederation from Ecuador (Konaye), Leonidas Iza, who announced that on Wednesday they would give an overall assessment of the progress of the negotiations.

“There is concern. For our part, we made proposals, and many times the government left us without an answer,” he complained.

Price Control Offer

This Tuesday Government submitted to the Indigenous and Peasant Movement a proposal for price controls, requested by the organizations convening the June marches, for 44 products deemed necessary.

government minister, Francis Jimenez, He stressed that it was a productive day, during which there was a positive exchange of information between both parties.

“We have reasonable grounds to expect that we will be able to reach agreements at this table next week,” he said. Jimenez.

At the meeting, the delegates exchanged criteria on such aspects as access to information, state price control, public price control through the observatory and external control of products to prevent smuggling, the report said. government ministry this is a statement.

The creation of inclusive fairs to improve food availability and the possibility of establishing social tariffs for telecommunications services for the benefit of rural sectors were also discussed.

Disagreements in industrial products

For his part, the Minister of Production, Foreign Trade, Investment and Fisheries, Julius Joseph Pradoexplained that by Government A fixed price cannot be set for manufactured goods, as there are external factors that directly affect their price.

The government ministry said in a statement that the executive branch promotes fair and equitable access to food for all segments of the population in order to preserve the health and economy of Ecuadorian families.

The protests, which took place from June 13 to 30, resulted in the death of 6 people, including 5 protesters, according to human rights organizations, and one soldier, as well as about 500 injuries between protesters and security forces.

Mobilization intensified after Government agree to a 15 cent per gallon (3.78 liter) cut in the price of subsidized fuel despite indigenous demand for a 40 cent cut, and to rescind a decree that encouraged oil activities, especially in Amazon.

For almost 3 weeks of protests Executive He also took other measures such as increasing the $50 to $55 voucher for vulnerable families, a 50% urea subsidy for agriculture, and doubling the budget for intercultural education.

(EFE)