Ecuadorian Indigenous people celebrate deal to cut fuel prices

Ecuador’s government and Indigenous leaders signed a deal Thursday that would cut fuel prices and end cost-of-living protests that largely paralyzed the country for 18 straight days. The agreement, mediated by the Catholic Church and signed in Quito, provides for a five-cent-per-gallon reduction in the price of diesel and gasoline on top of a 10-cent cut already conceded by the government. Fast-rising fuel prices were the catalyst for the protests called by the powerful Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (Conaie) and marked by burning roadblocks and sometimes violent clashes with the security forces.