WASHINGTON: Colombian authorities will impound trucks blocking highways and double the number of security forces patrolling roads, President Juan Manuel Santos said on Thursday, as a 38-day-long truckers strike continues to spark violent protests. The strike, which began in early June, has caused sharp rises in food prices, clogged ports and hit exports of the country’s high-quality arabica coffee.
Negotiations between the truckers union and the government are at a stalemate, as the workers demand a rise in cargo prices and cuts to motor fuel and road toll costs. One person has been killed in clashes, and the governor of Boyaca province was injured in a highway accident that authorities blamed on the protesters.
Trucks blocking highways will now be impounded, and drivers or truck owners participating in violent protests will have their licenses revoked and could face fines of up to 480 million pesos ($163,458), Santos said in a televised address. The number of soldiers and police patrolling roads will double to 50,000.
“There is not and will not be any tolerance on the part of the government when faced with illegal behavior,” Santos said, adding that the government was willing to come to a “realistic” agreement with the union. “If we accept the proposals on the table, family food costs would go up 10 percent,” the president said. “The government cannot allow, and I will not allow, that food costs for things like eggs, meat and rice rise permanently.”
