Colombia’s transport sector leaders asked truckers to resume work after the government agreed to compromise on fuel price hikes.
The government agreed to revoke the $0.26/gallon price hike that triggered the transport sector to all but shut down Bogota and roads across the country.
Equally dramatic hikes that sought to gradually remove the freeze on fuel prices throughout the year were scrapped.
Instead, the price of gasoline and diesel will go up $0.10/gallon effective immediately and another 10 cents in December.
All other planned measures to unfreeze gas prices have been suspended until after talks about structural problems in the transport sector.
In order to facilitate these talks, the government vowed to create negotiation tables for the different branches within the transport sector.
These talks will include improving drivers and truckers’ labor conditions and other critiques expressed by, among others, President Gustavo Petro during the strike.
The compromises will have significant consequences for the government’s budget as the freezing of oil prices reportedly cost the government $13.5 billion since 2020.
