Ecuador: Agreement ends 18 days of strikes

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador’s government and the country’s main Indigenous group have reached an agreement to end 18 days of often-violent strikes that had virtually paralyzed the country. The deal, which includes a decrease in the price of fuel and other concessions, was signed Thursday by Government Minister Francisco Jiménez, Indigenous leader Leonidas Iza and the head of the Episcopal Conference, Monsignor Luis Cabrera, who acted as mediator. The agreement sets out that gasoline prices will decrease 15 cents to $2.40 per gallon and diesel prices will also decline the same amount, from $1.90 per gallon to $1.75.