Protestors, from different occupations such as farmers, students, workers, and transporters, gather to join the national strike called by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) against President Guillermo Lasso on the fifth consecutive day in Quito, Ecuador on June 17, 2022.

Indigenous protesters in Ecuador met with the government on Monday in an attempt to end nationwide demonstrations against high living costs that have rocked the country for two weeks.

The meeting came after protesters rejected a fuel price cut announced by the government as insufficient and vowed to continue demonstrations. 

President Guillermo Lasso on Sunday announced a 10-cents-per-gallon reduction to the fast-rising diesel and gasoline prices that sparked the uprising, now in its 15th day and severely hampering the oil-dependent economy.

The cut was not nearly as much as protesters had demanded and the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie), which has been blockading roads and occupying oil wells since June 13, said the gesture was "not enough, it is insensitive."

It showed, said a statement signed by Conaie leader Leonidas Iza, that the government "does not sympathize with the situation of poverty faced by millions of families." But later on Monday, Conaie met with the government in a meeting that was broadcast online.

Iza said the group's aim was to agree "a policy that can benefit the poorest," while reiterating that Indigenous people had been "insulted" by Lasso's gesture. Indigenous people make up more than a million of Ecuador's 17.7 million people, and Conaie is credited with unseating three presidents between 1997 and 2005.

AFP