In recent days, several cities, especially the capital, have been the scene of demonstrations to demand that the government end practices that affect some tasks and the population of this South American country in general.
From Monday to last Thursday, various cooperatives dedicated to private taxi transport have developed four consecutive days of protests to demand a meeting with Quito Mayor Santiago Guarderas.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the union leaders spoke with the mayor about issues such as the need to regulate digital platforms that use private vehicles to provide the mobility service in the city.
Another wish was exemption from the ordinance known as Pico y Placa, which bans cars from exiting one day a week, depending on the number plate, which the city government uses to try to avoid traffic congestion in the city.
After the appointment and with the mayor’s promise to process the requests, the taxi drivers ended their protest actions.
On the other hand, hundreds of citizens, summoned by the United Workers’ Front, marched through the capital’s historic center on Wednesday to demand labor rights, unemployment reduction and the National Assembly’s rejection of the proposed investment attraction law, submitted by the Executive with an urgent economic nature.
The controversial draft law, which has been defended by the national administration and criticized by parliamentary banks and social sectors, was brought to a second debate in a session adjourned on Tuesday and resumed two days later.
Eventually, in a legislative plenary vote, 87 members of the assembly voted to reject and table the text, while only 44 approved and three abstained.
The regulation proposal aimed to attract around $30 billion by 2025 based on public-private partnerships, the stock exchange, free zones, the financial sector and digital transformation.
Although the state defends that the proposal will serve to create jobs and revitalize the economy, those who disagree see it as privatizing and far removed from the needs of working people.
or/scm