Guillermo Lasso reduced fuel prices this Sunday, although in a lower percentage than that demanded by the indigenous protesters mobilized in Ecuador for two weeks. These protests have the Ecuadorian president on the ropes in a debate about his possible impeachment before Congress.
With Alice Campaignolle from Quito and AFP.
Lasso gives in to the indigenous protests and reduces the price of fuel. Of course, in a lower percentage than that requested by thousands of outraged by the high cost of living. This is a reduction of 10 cents on the dollar that leaves the price of diesel at 1.80 dollars and that of regular gasoline at 2.45. The indigenous demand lowering the contributions to 1.50 and 2.10 dollars respectively.
The roadblocks and the seizure of more than a thousand wells in the midst of the outbreak have oil in check, main export item. If the protests continue, the country could stop producing the black gold in the next 48 hours, according to the government.
Meanwhile, for the second day in a row, Congress debated the desirability of dismissing Lasso, whom a sector of the opposition considers responsible for the “serious political crisis and internal commotion” that has hit the country since June 13, with almost daily demonstrations and blockades.
This proposal was presented by the UNES bench, led by former President Rafael Correa, currently exiled in Belgium. The constitutional mechanism is known as “cross death.” If the president is removed, new presidential and legislative elections will have to be organized.
But for some deputies, as for the president, this is an attempted coup. Fernando Villavicencio, of the Socialist Party “Here there is a forged coup, here they have deliberately created a state of commotion and, of course, they present themselves as the democrats. Constitutional coup!”
There are few real chances of dismissal. 92 of the 137 possible votes in Congress are needed to remove the president, and not many deputies are in favor of this mechanism.
Although the protests have been mostly peaceful, the days of Thursday and Friday turned violent in Quito. The clashes between demonstrators and the public force intensified with police repression.
Sunday without violence
The presidential headquarters remains protected with metal fences, razor wire and uniformed personnel. One of its accesses warns: “In case of unauthorized entry, lethal force will be used.”
Lasso ordered on Saturday the end of the state of exception, under which imposed a nightly curfew and militarized the city. However, reporters from AFP They verified that the center continues to be heavily guarded by the security forces.
International and human rights organizations are calling for an end to the violence.
This Sunday Pope Francis called for “dialogue” and “social peace.” “I encourage all parties to abandon violence and extreme positions,” he wrote on Twitter.
In the streets, after a Sunday without violence in the capital, the mobilization continuesasking, among other things, for a drop in the price of gasoline and fair prices for farm products.
