Protests Heighten
against Free Trade Agreement in Ecuador
QUITO.—The beginning
of a new round of negotiations over a Free Trade
Agreement with the United States brought
widespread protests in Ecuador as students and
indigenous and social movements expressed their
opposition.
Thousands of young
people marched from the central University to
the city center where they battled riot police
that hurled hundreds of tear gas canisters.
Santiago Angulo,
president of the Federation of University
Students of Quito, told Prensa Latina that
students took to the streets to reject the trade
agreement and demand the US corporation
Occidental Petroleum be kicked out from Ecuador.
Angulo noted that
partial victories have so far been achieved
since government’s plans were to have the
agreement signed by last December. |