Truck drivers in Colombia are blocking highways around the country's cities to protest higher fuel prices. The cost of diesel rose some 20% over the weekend, sparking blockades that have spread quickly. Supplies of basic products are running short.
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00:00On the road into Bogota, some private cars will be able to pass through the blockade
00:04if they're lucky.
00:05That's if they can convince the truckers, by blowing their horns, that they support
00:09their protest.
00:11But any trucks trying to gain access will have to get in line.
00:14Jose is bringing a delivery of milk and has been stuck here for the last four hours.
00:20Carrying farm-fresh milk is like driving an ambulance, it's like taking a patient to
00:29a hospital.
00:30I tell them the milk will go sour.
00:34The transport union has put up road blockades as a means of pressuring the government to
00:38halt plans to hike diesel fuel prices.
00:41They say that now it's going to be the same, that it will be 2,000 pesos, that it's going
00:48to stop there.
00:49That's a lie.
00:53The previous government subsidized the cost of diesel, which generated a deficit of more
00:57than 56 billion pesos, or 13 billion dollars.
01:02Obviously, an increase in diesel prices means higher transportation costs, and will affect
01:10the price of many goods transported by land.
01:14What's the solution?
01:16Even if basic goods see price increases, there's still a very large fiscal shortfall.
01:24And this shortfall is costing money that could be used for social programs and infrastructure.
01:37The truckers insist they'll remain on strike until Gustavo Petro's government abandons
01:41the price hike.
01:45We will fight as long as we can.
01:47If they come up with a solution quickly, tonight or tomorrow, so much the better, because obviously
01:52then the strike will end.
01:55But not until they give in and understand our demands.
02:01Negotiations between the government and the transporters continue.
02:06But for now, the strike goes on.