Colombia Reaches Agreement with Truckers to Suspend Road Blockades, Reports Reuters

Colombia’s government announced on Friday that it has reached an agreement with truckers to suspend a protest concerning rising diesel prices. The decision came after road blockades raised concerns about potential food and fuel shortages in the country’s largest cities.

The agreement was made after the government revised its initial plan to increase diesel prices by 1,904 pesos (approximately 45 cents) per gallon this month. Instead, they settled on a smaller increase of 800 pesos, to be implemented in two equal increments throughout the year.

Following several days of discussions, the transport ministry confirmed the signing of a commitment with the transport representatives to end the strike.

Protests began earlier this week. For almost five years, diesel prices had been maintained at an average of 9,065 pesos ($2.16) per gallon, due to government subsidies that Finance Minister Ricardo Bonilla indicated cost approximately 12 trillion pesos ($2.87 billion) annually.

The government believes it is necessary to adjust diesel prices to align more closely with international rates in order to allocate resources for social initiatives.

In addition to addressing the diesel price issue, the government and truckers also reached agreements on 14 other points, including a moratorium on further diesel price increases until significant changes are implemented in the sector.

On a related note, Colombia’s majority state-owned energy company, Ecopetrol, announced on Thursday that it had shut down one of its fields producing 45,000 barrels per day due to the protests and a series of attacks on two of its pipelines, with plans to halt operations at additional fields as well.