ICFTU ONLINE...

Brussels, October 2 1998 (ICFTU OnLine): Four people were killed in Ecuador on Thursday in clashes that occurred during a day of strikes and protests against a series of economic measures decreed by the government. Ninety people were arrested.

The strike was called by the Ecuadorian Confederation of Free Trade Unions (CEOSL), affiliated to the ICFTU, and other national trade union centres grouped in the United Workers’ Front (FUT).

The strikers and demonstrators were protesting at the economic programme announced on September 14 by the country’s Christian Democrat President Jamil Mahuad, who came to power on August 10. The programme includes the abolition of price subsidies for gas, electricity and diesel oil, and a 15 per cent devaluation of the national currency, the sucre.

According to the trade unions, these measures will only be of benefit to the financial sectors and the multinationals, and will lead to greater inequality in the country.

While the capital, Quito, has remained calm, the coastal towns of Guayaquil, Portoviejo (south-west) and Esmeraldas (180 km to the north west of Quito) have been the scenes of violent incidents.

In Guayaquil, the organisers denounced the repression which they believe was orchestrated by the police and the army who did not hesitate to use firearms to break up the demonstration. A man was shot dead in the harbour town, while in Esmeraldas a student and a former political leader were killed in circumstances that have yet to be clarified. Furthermore, a police officer was killed in an explosion at a barracks in Portoviejo (240 km south west of Quito).

The ICFTU wrote to President Mahuad at the end of September to demand that steps be taken to avoid any police provocation during strikes and demonstrations. The Confederation denounced the use of tear gas and the arrest of 35 students during meetings which followed the announcement of the government’s measures on September 14. It also protested at the attack on September 4 on the President of the CEOSL, José Chavez Chavez, who was intercepted by a group of men in police uniforms who took his identity papers and his wallet.

Relative calm has now been restored in the country.

International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU)
Boulevard Emile Jacqmain 155, B - 1210 Brussels, Belgium. For more information
please contact: Luc Demaret on: 00 322 224 0212 - press@icftu.org

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