Ecuador Fuel Strike (1994)

Sun Jan 30, 1994

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Image: Protesters in Quito, taking to the streets in 2019 after the government ended fuel subsidies, causing price increases

On this day in 1994, approximately half a million workers staged a 24-hour strike in Ecuador to protest a government increase in fuel prices, blocking roads and burning tires.

Fuel prices would again cause widespread strikes and civil unrest in 2019, when President Lenín Moreno issued a decree on October 1st, ending subsidies for diesel and extra gasoline with ethanol to comply with International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan conditions.

Leaders of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) and the United Workers Front (FUT) announced a national strike to protest the resultant fuel increases on October 9th, 2019.