------ Forwarded Message
From: Ciudades Hermanas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Thu, 14 Jul 2005 14:51:52 -0600
To: List Serve <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [es-solidarity] MPR-12 statement on gas prices
*Answers to frequently asked questions about es-solidarity are at the bottom of this message.*
Below is a recently issued statement from the MPR-12 surrounding the rising gas and transportation costs in El Salvador.
Popular Resistance Movement ? October 12 MPR-12 For Life, Dignity and Sovereignty
Faced with the incontrollable rise in cost of fuel, that has an everyday impact in the cost of life for the Salvadoran people, the MPR-12 makes the following analysis and proposals:
Analysis:
The rise in oil prices and its products has 3 large causes:
- The Neoliberal policies from the ARENA governments
- In the early 90s, Alfredo Cristiani privatized the state company PETROCEL, which worked in importation and oil refinement.
- The policy to liberalize prices and the lack of price controls
- The high taxes that the government charges on each gallon of fuel: 1% importation tax, 13% value added sales tax, and 20 cents for the FOVIAL road repair fund.
- The monopoly of the transnational corporations that control the importation, refinery and distribution of fuel
- The behavior of the world production and international demand for oil and its derivates.
The latest crisis of oil prices has been going on for the last 15 months. This crisis provoked the first rise in prices in April of last year, from 17 to 20 cents in urban transportation and around 40% for inter-provincial travel.
As the MPR-12 we are not against the transportation industry, but we do not support a rise in travel fares that will affect the population and its household economy.
Our position is that this government is incapable of finding a just and definitive solution to the problem of the rising prices and of fuel and transportation.
The rising costs of fuel impacts the business costs for public and cargo transportation, and in consequence we se rising production costs, rising costs of products and services in general, and particularly in the basic needs basket and food. This directly affects the population, household economies, and causes rising poverty levels. Meanwhile, salaries are frozen and significantly losing buying power.
Due to the fact that El Salvador is a net importer of fossil fuels and has no say in the fluctuation of international prices, the fuel problem needs integral solutions.
For thee reasons, we demand of the government:
- No raise in the fares for public transportation
- Establishment of a half price fare for students and the elderly
- Elimination of Value Added Sales and Road taxes for fuel for public transportation
- Establishment of a subsidy to public transportation that compensates the rising fuel cost.
- A 20% raise in the minimum wage to reestablish the lost buying power due to the rise in costs of fuel and the basic needs basket.
- Establishment of a law that regulates the fuel market, fundamentally oriented to regulating the profits of the transnational corporations.
- Creation of a state entity for importation, refinery and distribution of oil and its derivates, that lets us establish agreements with the governments of Venezuela, Mexico and others, to receive the benefits of their preferential prices to Central American nations.
We call upon the population to carry out the following actions:
- Not pay more than 20 cents upon getting on the bus
- Denounce abuses and higher prices
- Organize in your communities and neighborhoods
- Mobilize in protest for the rising cost of living
For Life, Dignity and Sovereignty
Popular Resistance Movement ? October 12
MPR-12
* To post a message send it to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (This only works from a subscribed address.)
* Using the RESPOND option in your e-mail program to reply to a message from es-solidarity sends your response only to the person who sent the original message.
* Using the RESPOND TO ALL option sends the response to the whole list.
* To unsubscribe send a blank message (from the subscribed address) to [EMAIL PROTECTED] .
* To subscribe send a blank message(from the e-mail address you want to subscribe) to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
* Never, never use an auto-responder with an address subscribed to this list. The result will be painful to self and others and may disrupt marriages, friendships and other critical relationships.
*Those of you with internet-based e-mail accounts have to be especially careful to clean out your inbox from time to time. All such accounts have space limits, and if your inbox is too full all the messages sent to you will bounce. Any account that bounces messages 50 times will be deleted from the list.
The U.S.-El Salvador Sister Cities Homepage is: http://www.us-elsalvador-sisters.org
------ End of Forwarded Message
