Colombia Reaches Agreement with Truckers to Halt Diesel Price Protest

Colombia's government has reached an agreement with truckers to suspend protests over rising diesel prices. The deal includes a reduced price hike and assurances of no further increases until the sector undergoes structural changes. The protests had threatened food and fuel shortages in major cities and impacted energy production.

Colombia's government successfully negotiated a deal with truckers on Friday to halt protests over increasing diesel prices, which had the potential to cause significant food and fuel shortages in the nation's largest cities.

The accord followed the government's decision to retract its initial plan to raise diesel prices by 1,904 pesos per gallon. Instead, they agreed to a more modest increase of 800 pesos in two increments spread over the rest of the year. According to a statement from the transport ministry, the agreement was reached after several days of dialogue.

The protests began at the start of the week, with diesel prices previously frozen at an average of 9,065 pesos per gallon due to government subsidies. These subsidies have been costing the government approximately 12 trillion pesos annually. The new agreement also includes 14 additional points such as suspending future price increases until comprehensive sector reforms are implemented. Recently, state-owned energy company Ecopetrol had to shut down operations at some of its oil fields due to the combined impact of the protests and separate attacks on two pipelines.

(With inputs from agencies.)