Ecuadorian president Lenin Moreno agreed to swap a law that ended decades-old fuel subsidies for new legislation that will direct more resources to the needy as part of a deal he struck on Sunday with protest leaders to end a spate of violence.
The announcement followed the first meeting between Moreno and indigenous leaders who have brought thousands of demonstrators to the streets of the capital Quito to demand he reinstate the subsidies. For more than a week, Moreno had refused, defending the subsidy cuts as key to efforts to clean up Ecuador’s finances after signing a $4.2 billion loan deal with the International Monetary Fund.
Decree 883
But as clashes between police and demonstrators became more violent, Moreno said he agreed to get rid of a law that had become a target of protesters, Decree 883, by replacing it with a modified version. “A solution for peace and for the country: the government will substitute Decree 883 for a new one that has mechanisms for directing its resources to the people who need it the most,” Moreno said on Twitter after the meeting in the town of Cumbaya.
Source: reuters.com
