The impasse between fuel haulers and distributors continued yesterday, Sunday 14 April. The distributors are asking the government to mediate and are warning that there will be fuel shortages soon as existing stocks at gas stations run out. Arnulfo Rivas, the vice-president of the National Gasoline Retailers Association (Anadegas), and the secretary general of the Autonomous Union of Petroleum and Related Products Transport Drivers (SACTPA), Clemente Morillo, have called on the authorities to intervene so an agreement can be reached. They are maintaining the indefinite strike that began on Friday, 12 April in pursuit of a collective bargaining agreement that includes a minimum salary and other demands. Morillo said that this was a very complicated problem because many distributors have sufficient fuel stored and have closed their stations, claiming that they have run out of product in order to “cause us problems.”
On the other hand, Anadegas said on Friday, 12 April that fuel reserves would begin to run out by Tuesday, 16 April. Morillo warned that the fuel shortage that is already being experienced in some stations is the absolute responsibility of the distribution companies. “We have asked the President of the Republic, since the officials have not taken the correct decision to mediate in this conflict, to empower the Minister of Industry and Commerce and the Minister of Labor so that the government can grab this by the handle,” they suggested.