The president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, expressed his solidarity with the Ecuadorian people after the economic reforms announced by the Lenin Moreno government.
“I express my solidarity with the heroic people of Ecuador, children of Manuela Sáenz and the libertarian sword of Marshal Antonio José de Sucre and the Liberator Simón Bolívar. Enough of IMF Packages! Enough of Misery! #ForceEcuador” wrote Maduro through his Twitter account.
Ecuador woke up Thursday with strong demonstrations and a national transport strike in rejection of an economic package, which involves the elimination of subsidies for the consumption of fossil fuels, the release of diesel and gasoline prices.
Given this, President Moreno decreed a state of emergency for a period of 60 days to contain the protests and has announced the arrest of 19 people in the city of Quito.
In context:
Executive Decree 883, eliminates the subsidy for extra and ecopais gasoline, the most used in Ecuador, in addition to diesel. Thus, the extra and ecopais gasoline went from 1.85 dollars to 2.39 per gallon; Meanwhile, diesel rose from $ 1.03 to 2.29 (123%).
Lenin Moreno also announced a series of economic and labor reforms that could substantially reduce workers’ benefits, including:
Renewal with 20% less compensation for occasional contracts.
Holiday cuts for public and private sector workers from 30 to 15 days.
Public company workers will contribute at least one day of their salary monthly.
The economic package of the government of Lenin Moreno is given amidst an agreement for more than 4,000 million dollars with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which entered into force this 2019, and in which the Ecuadorian government committed itself to the agency “To send laws to the National Assembly to encourage more employment, increase tax collection by 1.5% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and try to improve the monetary and financial situation.”
AHORA:
