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Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Ecuador: banana growers from El Oro against new agriculture minister

January 23 2007

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Tholen - Banana growers from El Oro in Ecuador are planning protest actions against the appointment of the new minister of Agriculture, Carlos Vallejo. Growers want to block the Panamericana highway for 1 hour per day in all banana growing regions. The day on which these actions will be held are kept secret. The protests were suggested during a meeting of the Association of Banana Growers from El Oro, ABO. However, before any actions will be taken, a dialogue with president Rafael Correa will be requested, to explain the motives for the disagreement with the appointment of the new minister, according to Paúl González, president of the cantonal centre for agriculture in Machala, El Oro.

The minister suggested to solve the surplus production of bananas by decreasing the production acreage. This has caused the small banana growers to rise against him, as they fear for their companies. Vallejo neglected to indicate whether the proposed reduction of acreage will concern large or small companies. But as Vallejo is a personal friend of Álvaro Noboa, it is feared that it will for sure not concern his plantations.

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