Farmers and teachers in Ecuador take to the streets again to protest price hikes

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Farmers’ and teachers’ unions have taken to the streets of Ecuador on Monday (18) in a new day of mobilizations, the so-called ‘National Day of Unitary Struggle’, to protest against price increases, mainly fuel prices.

Monday’s protests were announced on October 1 to continue with the mobilizations of last September, which ended up causing the resignation of Tanlly Vera as Minister of Agriculture and Livestock after four months in office.

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These latest demonstrations have been called by the National Agricultural Front for Food Sovereignty of Ecuador (Fenasae) to protest the increase in fuel prices and the low value at which farmworkers are forced to sell their products, reports the Ecuadorian newspaper ‘El Universo’.

“This day of October 18 is important. We demand a freeze on fuel prices and respect for the official price of our products,” demanded another of the unions supporting the protests, the National Federation of Farmers’ Social Security Insured (Feunassc).

Among the demands are also the State’s effective fight against smuggling of agricultural products, regulation of food imports, the prices of supplies and resources for the countryside, better conditions for accessing credit, technical assistance, and better water and environmental conservation policies.

The farmworkers have also been joined by teachers from the National Union of Educators (UNE), who already participated in the September 15 protests.

During the early hours of Monday morning, farmers occupied highways to block roads in up to four provinces of the country, in Guayas, Manabí, Los Ríos, and Carchi, asking for “definitive answers” from the Government to address the crisis they face with the price increase.

“The government never attends us. We expect definitive answers. Every time there is a strike, it puts a proposal. It does not fulfill it”, specified to ‘El Universo’ one of the protesters, who, together with the rest of his companions, has asked te President Guillermo Lasso to fulfill his campaign promises, such as providing credits at 1 percent of interest for 30 years.

Police have been deployed at the points where farmers are blocking roads with sacks of rice and fuel.