LatinNews Daily - 16 September 2025

*Ecuador’s presidential spokesperson, Carolina Jaramillo, has said that there will be no negotiation on the elimination of diesel subsidies which was announced by President Daniel Noboa’s government on 12 September. “We’ve always held dialogue and we will continue to do so, but there is no room for extortion or for negotiations which we view as a form of pressure in which the government would end up having to give in,” Jaramillo said in response to reports that protesters had blocked the Pan-American highway in Mejía canton, Pichincha province. Jaramillo specifically ruled out negotiations with the powerful umbrella indigenous organisation Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas del Ecuador (Conaie), which has condemned the subsidy cut, saying that “we can’t seek dialogue with those who have historically tried to paralyse the country, causing losses to those who most need to work”. The government began rolling out compensation for the subsidy cut yesterday and says it will plough US$1.1bn in savings into measures to boost social protection and economic productivity. Among other things the Noboa administration plans to provide credit of US$1,000 to 100,000 farmers; provide 23,000 transport workers with a monthly bonus of US$400-US$1,000 to avoid fare increases; provide outboard motors to artisanal fishermen in coastal provinces; pay the human development benefit to an additional 55,000 families; reimburse value-added tax (VAT) payments for 115,000 elderly people; invest US$10m in patrols along roads that are vulnerable to accidents; and pay US$80m to 210 construction and housing companies to boost the economy and generate jobs.

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