Fw: (ftaa-l) Reuters: Ecuador Indians, unions to march despite threat

["Nello Margiotta" <animarg@tin.it>]

>
> Ecuador Indians, unions to march despite threat
>
> QUITO, Ecuador, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Ecuadorean Indian and union groups said
> they would stage a protest march on Sunday to protest price increases, in
> defiance of military warnings of a crackdown against street protests.
>
> "We're not going to run, we are going to stay right up front. The
> president and the defense minister are out there repressing the Ecuadorean
> people,"  Antonio Vargas, head of the National Confederation of Indians
> (CONAIE), told reporters Wednesday.
>
> Ecuador's high military command on Tuesday warned that military and police
> officers would repress attempts by "anarchists and vandals" to destabilize
> the government through a series of protests.
>
> CONAIE said Sunday's march on the first anniversary of the military and
> Indian uprising that overthrew ex president Jamil Mahuad was being held to
> protest a 75 percent increase in bus fares and a 25 percent hike in
> gasoline..
>
> Ecuador, an Andean nation of 12.4 million people, has sought to
> consolidate democratic stability since Mahuad's overthrow. The nation has
> had four presidents in the past four years.
>
> The nation is suffering a devastating economic crisis, with annual
> inflation at 91 percent, the highest in Latin America for the third year
> running, and an $11 billion government foreign debt burden that is more
> than 80 percent of GDP. According to the United Nations, more than 70
> percent of Ecuadoreans live in poverty.
>