Transportation Strike
Ends in Nicaragua
A national strike that
paralyzed the country
for 12 days came to an
Saturday after
Nicaraguan president,
Daniel Ortega, announced
that the government
would offer a us$1.30
per gallno subsidy on
diesel fuel. The subsidy
only applies to fuel
sold to buses and taxis.
The subsidy will be
applied to 60
participating Petronic
and Shell gasoline
stations actross the
country, making
Nicaragua the cheapest
country for diesel fuel.
The subsidized price is
us$3.15 per gallon for
buses and taxis. 75% of
Nicaragua's
transportation sector
uses diesel fuel.
President Ortega said
that 30 cents of the
subsidy would be covered
by Venezuelan funding
under the ALBA
agreement, though no
mention as to how
Nicaragua would finance
the balance of the
subsidy, raising
questions of
transparency of the
Ortega government.
The announcement by
Ortega Friday night that
ended the transportation
strike was not all good
news. Ortega announced a
price increase in
gasoline and diesel
fuels that will be paid
by everyone else,
pushing the price of
regular gasoline to
us$5.20, super to us$530
and diesel to us$5.10 a
gallon. Nicaragua uses
the gallon as measure
for gasoline at the
pumps.
The rise in gasoline
prices will no doubt
affect food prices.
Although the strike is
over and bus and taxi
drivers got something
for their 12 action,
operators of tractor
trailers on the other
hand did not get what
they had asked for, as
the diesel subsidy does
not apply to them.
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