Ecuador Oil Protesters Threaten Hunger Strike

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QUITO - Protesters whose attacks have choked off Ecuadorean oil exports threatened on Wednesday to launch a hunger strike to pressure the government to grant them immunity, marking a setback in settlement talks.

The activists, who want private energy companies to invest more in the poor Amazon communities where they operate, crippled Ecuador's oil industry last week and helped push up global petroleum prices by dynamiting pipelines and vandalizing pumping equipment belonging to the state oil firm Petroecuador.

About 60 protest leaders are in Quito for settlement talks aimed at ending the crisis. But negotiations hit a snag on Wednesday over the issue of immunity.

"If the government does not give us immunity from prosecution, we have a consensus to call a hunger strike as a way of increasing the pressure," said Edmundo Espindola, a protest leader and mayor of the oil town of Shushufindi in Sucumbios province.

"If immunity is granted, we are ready to sign the settlement," he said.

The activists' stance put President Alfredo Palacio in a difficult position.

"If the government grants immunity it would set a very bad precedent because other groups would get the message that they can stage violent protests with out legal consequences," said Carlos Larreategui, political analyst and pollster at the University of the Americas in Quito.
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complete report at link
Story by Hugh Bronstein

Story Date: 25/8/2005

© Reuters News Service 2005

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1. duplicate topic

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