Conaie ends strike after government agrees to 5-cent gasoline price reduction and other concessions

The negotiation table in Quito shortly before an agreement was announced. Conaie President Leonidas Iza is on the far left, Government Minister Francisco Jiménez is on the far right.

The 18-day anti-government strike is over.

At a 12:15 p.m. press conference, President of the Episcopal Catholic Conference of Ecuador, Luis Cabrera, announced that an agreement had been reached between the government and Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities.

The key to the agreement, according to Cabrera, was a five-cent reduction in the price of Extra and Ecopaís gasoline and diesel fuel, to $2.40 and $1.75 a gallon. The price cuts are in addition to the 10 cent reductions announced by President Guillermo Lasso last week, for total reductions of 15 cents per gallon.

In addition, the government agreed to end the emergency declarations for four provinces announced Wednesday night; to repeal Decree 151, which sought to expand the number of mining concessions in the country; to repeal Decree 95, which aimed to double oil production within five years; to guarantee a 50 percent reduction in the price of urea for fertilizer; to recognize special protection zones in the Amazon region; and to continue talks for targeted fuel price reductions for “critical” economic sectors.

The chief negotiator for the government was Government Minister Francisco Jiménez while Conaie President Leonidas Iza represented Conaie.

Following announcement of the agreement, Iza issued a statement asking his supporters in Quito to return to their homes and those blocking highways to allow the government to clear debris.