According to the official statement released on Wednesday, the talks are scheduled for 3:00 p.m. local time, with the mediation of the Catholic Church, which responded affirmatively to building “necessary consensus for peaceful coexistence”.
The message about this decision specified that “organized groups, associations and representative movements, which have participated in demonstrations in recent days in different parts of the country so that together we find viable and feasible solutions to the problems that afflict society.”
It also highlighted the Executive’s willingness to offer measures to alleviate the convulsive national situation, and confirmed that the price of gasoline will remain frozen for three months for all private cars at $1.43 a liter (3.95 dollars a gallon), as well as the value of about 10 products of the basic family basket.
As indicated, the Executive Branch announced the adoption of around 10 austerity measures to contain the current expenditure of public funds, including a 10-percent reduction in the state workforce.
After multiple complaints of waste and corruption in the public administration, this last measure is viewed with suspicion, as it could leave some 27,000 people unemployed.
The protests began last week promoted by the Pueblo Unidos por la Vida alliance; and in the western province of Veraguas, the National Alliance for the Rights of the Organized People, which brings together unions and popular organizations from all over the country.
pgh/llp/rgh/ga
