Ecuador talks resume on 18th day of protest

Talks between the Ecuadorian government and indigenous leaders resumed Thursday after a bitter hiatus to seek an end to protests over the cost of living that have largely paralyzed the country since June 13.

Negotiations resume in the capital, Quito, at a mediating church, with early signs of a possible breakthrough.

Church official Alfredo Espinoza said the mediators had proposed an additional 5 cents-a-gallon cut in the price of diesel and gasoline, in addition to the 10-cent cuts already made in response to protesters’ complaints about soaring fuel prices.

The demonstrators had demanded a cut of 40 cents.

Both parties have tentatively approved the proposal, Espinoza said, but a deal has yet to be signed.

The indigenous delegation retreated to consider their next move as thousands of supporters gathered outside the gathering site.

An estimated 14,000 Ecuadorians – most of them in Quito – have taken part in a nationwide demonstration of dissatisfaction against mounting hardship in an economy that has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic

The protests were called by the powerful Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie), which is credited with overthrowing three presidents between 1997 and 2005.

Indigenous people make up more than a million of the South American nation’s 17.7 million residents.

Talks between the two parties started on Monday but were cut short the following day after the government accused protesters of killing a soldier.

On Wednesday, the government announced it was resuming talks but also imposed a new state of emergency in four of the country’s 24 provinces as violence continued to disrupt the nationwide insurgency.

In addition to the soldier, five protesters have died and hundreds injured on both sides in clashes between security forces and protesters that have blocked roads and cut supply lines.

According to observers, about 150 people were arrested.

The action was costly, with losses of about $50 million a day to the economy, according to the government, which has warned oil production – which has already been halved – could soon grind to a halt altogether.