President of Ecuador orders to enforce “official prices” of rice, milk, fruits and other basic food items

The president of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, said on Friday that it will enforce the official prices of the basic food basket in the country, which suffers the impact of the increase in the price of fuel.

“I have ordered the National Government authorities to protect the family economy. I have instructed governors and mayors to enforce, without exceptions of any kind, the official prices of rice, milk, fruits, and all the products of the basic basket“, wrote Lasso on his Twitter account.

Lasso also announced the freezing of fuel prices, which in the last year increased more than 40%, in an attempt to silence protests against his economic reforms and amid growing tension over his appearance in the Pandora Papers.

Once again the price of fuels in this country, which until December 2019 was a member of OPEC, has once again been at the center of the tug of war between social sectors and the Government, which has been forced to retreat and paralyze the economy. rising costs that they have been enduring for just over a year.

“As of today, the monthly increases in fuel prices are suspended, and the price of Extra gasoline is set at 2.55 dollars and the price of Diesel for public, community, school, tourism, heavy load, mixed transport and for the general public, at $ 1.90 “announced the president.

Social movements have called for a march against the economic measures for Tuesday 26. And it is that since July 2020 a system of price bands has been in force in the country, set by the Government of Lenín Moreno, which de facto had mitigated the loss of state income due to the historic subsidies of four decades.

The gallon of extra (low-octane) and eco-country gasoline, the most popular, was accounted for in July of last year at $ 1.75 a gallon when the band system started (depending on the international market and with a monthly pendulum cap of 5%), and their current freeze will put them at $ 2.55, which represents an increase of 45%.

Diesel went from $ 1.00 a gallon to 1.90 today, an increase of 90%, and not only gasoline but also other derivatives that made transport prices more expensive, whose union representatives claim to have endured its full weight without the help of industry or other productive sectors.

Although initially, Lasso has sought dialogue with the carriers with whom he reached agreements in principle on fiscal targeting to compensate for the losses, finally the increase in the Texas barrel (WTI), a benchmark in Ecuador today at 83.52 dollars (when it closed at 75 in September), has ended up precipitating the decision.

For this reason, the president argued that it is necessary to “provide stability to the pockets of Ecuadorians”, and that he has listened “to citizens and the social and political sectors to generate agreements that lead us to a stable environment in which to grow. and generate employment ”.

SENSITIVE ISSUE

The plurinational movement Pachakutik, the second political force, assured that “the constant struggle together with the Ecuadorian people made it possible for President Lasso to announce the freezing of fuel prices today” and warned that he will monitor compliance.

For its part, the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) rejected “the new increase of 21 cents for diesel and 5 for gasoline” and valued the announcement of the freeze, as “a new increase that hits the popular economy.”

The October 2019 demonstrations in Ecuador, channeled by the indigenous leadership and which left at least half a dozen dead and 1,500 injured, triggered the derogation by then-President Moreno of gasoline subsidies, a measure that he had to repeal for the sake of pacifying the country.

The president of CONAIE, Leonidas Iza, has called for massive protests next week that, in principle, unions and student groups support, in a new popular pulse for the Executive.

“This government does not feel that it is the owner of the truth, on the contrary, we know that creating opportunities is not only our task, but everyone’s,” Lasso said today.

SOCIAL AGITATION

The state of social unrest has been increasing in recent weeks due to an unprecedented crisis in the prison system with more than 250 inmates killed so far this year, added to the growing insecurity, which has led the president to declare states of exception for face both scenarios.

Lasso presented a bill to the legislature in September that contained tax, fiscal and labor reforms, which was rejected by the National Assembly, where it has little support.

Citizen support for Lasso, which at the beginning of September was 74%, according to the most related polls, in the last month has fallen more than ten points and analysts warn that it may be even higher, especially after his name appeared in the Pandora’s roles as one of the active leaders with companies in tax havens, an extreme that he has denied, and for which he is investigated by a parliamentary commission, and the Attorney General’s Office.

As credentials in the little more than four months in office, he once again presented his successful vaccination plan against covid-19 by which more than 10 million people have been inoculated, and the creation of 200,000 suitable jobs in various sectors.

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