Following the strong protests that have been recorded this Tuesday in various parts of Bogotá and the country, President Gustavo Petro reacted to the demonstrations and said that “the country will not allow itself to be blocked”. Besides He defended the increase in the price of diesel, which is why transporters are protesting..
(You may be interested in: Truckers’ protest: TM users affected by strike reach half a million).
“The country will not allow itself to be blocked. The rise in diesel prices is fair because it is only recovering the money from a subsidy that should never have been given and which already accounts for a large fraction of Colombia’s public debt. Providing food to hungry people and education to our children and youth forces us to equalize diesel prices. The appropriate measures to confront a “lockout”: a business strike, are being taken from today. Small independent truck drivers will always be welcomed in the Ministry of Transport.”wrote the Colombian president on Tuesday through his social networks.
Defend the increase
In another message, the Colombian president defended the increase in the price of diesel fuel because the country has not raised diesel prices since 2019 because prices were frozen. “without taking into account that these prices are rising and that Ecopetrol, by law, uses the international price of oil to produce diesel and gasoline”.
(See: Passenger and freight rates could rise more than 7% after the first diesel price hike in the country).
According to the head of state, this was done “internationally”A situation that was aggravated by the fall of the peso against the dollar.
Truckers protest.
Andrea Moreno
“The debt reached almost 80 billion pesos and the country’s external and internal debt payments reach 110 billion pesos annually. If these debts are paid with budgets, there will be no public investment. If they are not paid, Ecopetrol, which is a company of all the people, will go bankrupt. The debt was left in a very irresponsible manner with Colombia by former President Duque.”Petro added.
He also said that his The government raised the price of gasoline so as not to affect the prices of food, which were on the rise and which is transported mainly by truck..
“Now that we have inflation under control, it is advisable to reduce public debt so that the health and education of Colombians can be financed,” he concluded.
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