The increase in fuel prices is due to a deficit of resources in the so-called Fuel Price Stabilization Fund, which President Gustavo Petro warned about last September. This fund allows gasoline prices in Colombia to remain stable and not be subject to fluctuations in international oil prices, as is the case in other countries.
The president announced months ago that a gradual increase in prices would have to be made to achieve the stabilization of the fund. Since last September, a gallon of gasoline (almost 4 liters) has gone from $2 to $4.
Taxi drivers demand differential gasoline prices for themselves and clear regulation for the technological platforms that provide passenger transport services, since they consider their income has been affected by this competition.
According to the authorities, the driver’s strike in several cities has not generated riots. The Vice Minister of Transportation, Eduardo Enríquez Caicedo, reported that around 1,500 people demonstrated in 10 of the 32 departments that Colombia has and that 27 protest acts have been organized, such as blockades or the so-called “turtle operations,” in nine cities.
These activities consist of taxi drivers occupying the entirety of an avenue and driving at low speed to slow down the traffic of the rest of the citizens and generate congestion on the main roads.
Among the affected cities are Medellín, Bucaramanga, Cartagena and Manizales. In Bogotá, the capital, several taxi drivers mobilized in the afternoon to the headquarters of the Ministry of Transportation to transfer their complaints and requests to the government.
